Man sets himself on fire to protest land confiscation
A Vietnamese man set himself on fire to protest the confiscation of the land where he lived that authorities said belonged to the government, police and state media reported Wednesday December 26. Hoang Huu Hanh, 53, soaked himself with gasoline and lit a match Tuesday when police pulled down his makeshift house in Hai Ba Trung District, said a local police officer who declined to be identified, citing policy.
Police quickly extinguished the fire and rushed him to a hospital where he remained in serious but stable condition Wednesday December 26, he said.
The official Vietnam News Agency quoted Lam Anh Tuan, deputy chief of the district people's committee as saying Hanh moved to the area in 1993 after residents were resettled there from an area where houses were taken for a road project. After distributing land for the residents, about 1,700 square metres of land remained. It was not made available for construction because a high-voltage cable was overhead, he said.
Hanh, however, illegally built a makeshift house and parking space on 500 square metres (5,382 sq. feet) of that land, Tuan said, adding Hanh refused to move even though authorities had tried to force him out three times.
The Associated Press - December 27, 2007.
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