An Australian man is in a critical condition in hospital after he became engulfed in flames when he was shot by police with a Taser gun. The incident took place in the West Australian remote desert community of Warburton after police approached a house where the man and others were sniffing petrol, intending to arrest them. It is unclear how the 36-year-old man, named by local media as Ronald Marshall, was set alight, but family members told the Australian newspaper that his body burst into flames after the Taser hit him on the bridge of his nose.
He was airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital by the flying doctor service where he is being treated for burns to 20 per cent of his body.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported he had suffered third degree burns to his face, arms and chest.
Morinda West, Mr Marshall's sister, told the Australian he was sniffing petrol in his mother's house at the Goldfields Aboriginal community when police banged on the door and asked him to come out.
He went to the front of the house with a lighter and a two-litre orange juice container full of petrol, she said.
"He must have put petrol on his face, then the policeman shot him with the Taser, that's when the flames happened," she said.
A police spokesman said a male police officer fired the Taser when Mr Mitchell ran at police with the petrol container and refused to stop when officers repeatedly told him to.
She said Mr Mitchell then caught alight and the police officer immediately went to his aid, smothering the flames with his arms.
She said at the same time the male officer was hit in the head with rocks thrown by an 18-year-old woman.
A police investigation into the incident is underway.