A 41-year old man from the village of Sitovo in northeastern Bulgaria has become the sixth person setting himself on fire in the course of just one month.

He has been admitted Wednesday morning in the hospital of the nearby city of Silistra with 90% burns on his body.

The man is unemployed with one child. Upon admission in the hospital he had been conscious and told the Silistra doctors that he poured gasoline on himself because of despair.

The self-immolator is now being transferred to the trauma and burns hospital ward in the Black Sea city of Varna to receive specialized care. His wife is with him in the ambulance.

Silistra police say he had been alone at the village sports field when the fire burst. They decline confirming the information that he committed the tragic act on his own, stressing only the investigation could offer such details.

A call has been placed on the 112 emergency hotline at 8 am Wednesday, alerting a man was ablaze at the Sitovo sports field. Passerby helped extinguishing the flames.

A probe has been launched with police, investigators and forensic teams searching and examining the scene. The regional and district prosecutors have been notified about the case.

On Monday, a miner from the western town of Bobovdol also set himself on fire.

Simeon Simeonov, 59, poured gasoline on his body before the very eyes of his son. Before the desperate act he had called his wife telling her he felt useless for not being able to help his family.

The woman has become alarmed and had sent the son to check on Simeon. He arrived seconds after the flames burst and was able to extinguish them.

Simeon is in Sofia's emergency "Pirogov" hospital with 30% burns on his body. He is in critical condition and his live is in danger.

The life of the 52-year-old Bulgarian man who set himself ablaze in downtown Sofia one week ago remains in danger, according to medics.

52-year-old blacksmith Dimitar Dimitrov set himself of fire in front of the Presidential building in Sofia. Security guards extinguished the flames and he was taken to hospital with 25% burns.

Three other men passed away recently after setting themselves on fire.

53-year-old Ventsislav Vasilev, who set himself on fire in Radnevo on February 26, having explained he has long lived in great poverty, passed away on March 10.

On March 3, Plamen Goranov, 36, died in Varna, after having set himself on fire on February 20, as an extreme act of political protest. Goranov, who protested against the corrupt authorities in the Black Sea city, became a symbol of the nationwide rallies, with media describing him as "the Bulgarian Jan Palach."

On February 19, 26-year-old Traian Marechkov set himself on fire and died soon after in Veliko Tarnovo, having explained he is too despaired to live on.

Several days ago, police in the second largest city of Plovdiv found the charred body of a woman in a local park. The main lead is that she was killed first and then set on fire, but suicide has not been ruled out.

In addition to self-immolation, a suicide wave seems to have invaded Bulgaria with daily reports about people hanging themselves, jumping for bridges and high-story buildings, and throwing themselves under trains, among others.

In the latest such incidents, two men died Tuesday – one in the city of Kyustendil after jumping from the balcony of his own apartment and one in the city of Smolyan after jumping from the sixth floor of the hospital where he was a patient.

The incidents follow weeks of massive protests against poverty and corruption in the Balkan country.

On March 12, President Rosen Plevneliev installed a caretaker Cabinet after last month's resignation of the center-right GERB government that was triggered by the massive protests.

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