Doctors Fight for Life of Sofia Self-Immolator

Doctors are fighting for the life of the man who set himself on fire in front of the Presidency building in downtown Sofia on Wednesday.

Reporters have been told that the man is in a serious condition.

According to local media, he has been identified as 51-year-old craftsman Dimitar Dimitrov.

Dimitrov set himself ablaze at around 1:35 EET. National Security Service officials were able to extinguish the flames.

Three men passed away over the past month after setting themselves on fire during massive anti-stagnation protests in the Balkan country.

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.

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