London – A man was killed by a fire outside Kensington Palace in London, England, home of Prince William, his wife Kate and their two children.
The Metropolitan Police was called early on Tuesday after a man was reported of behaving suspiciously in a locked park section near the palace. Police arrived at the scene around 3 a.m. and found that the man was on fire. Immediately, police tried to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher.
The paramedics and the fire department workers tried to save the 40-year-old man whose identity was not revealed, but despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead at 3:42 a.m.
The scene outside Kensington Palace still shows signs of what happened. Many tourists and other visitors of the palace’s surroundings were able to see the remains of the event, such as police tape and the leftover fire extinguisher.
“It’s such a perfect park (Kensington Gardens), and to think that this has happened outside the palace is horrible,” said Naomi Bridges, a tourist visiting from Australia. “I love the royals and I am so sorry this has happened on their doorstep.”
London Police said that for now, they are not handling the incident as suspicious or terrorist-related. They are linking the death to the search for a patient who was reported missing from a London hospital. No one else is thought to have been involved in the man’s death.
Prince William, Princess Kate and their children were not at home at the time of the incident, but is it not yet known if Prince Harry was there.
Source: People