Jobless Sicilian sets himself ablaze in car

Villabate, Feb 11 (IANS/AKI) A 54-year-old Sicilian man committed suicide by setting himself on fire inside his car after he lost his job.

Ferdinando Bosco's daughter Federica rushed to the square in Villabate town, where her father usually parked, after he sent her a text message saying "Forgive me", but his car was already ablaze on Wednesday.

Firemen feared the burning vehicle would explode and refused to allow Federica to approach it.

Police later recovered a petrol canister from inside the burned out car, reports said.

Bosco was fired last week by the haulers he worked for transporting fruit and vegetables and had recently separated from his wife.

He was "extremely close" to his daughter and sank into depression after losing his job, distraught relatives were quoted as saying by local daily Il Giornale della Sicilia.

"Condolences to the family. Such tragedies have sadly touched many Sicilians who find themselves from one day to the next without a job, forcing their families to live below the poverty line," Palermo's mayor Leoluca Orlando said in a statement.

--IANS/AKI

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