Woman sets herself on fire at Miami mall

MIAMI, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A woman calmly set herself on fire and walked into the crowded Miami-Dade mall Thursday as horrified shoppers watched and some tried to help, police said.

The 43-year-old woman, whose name was withheld, walked into a parking lot where bystanders finally put out the flames. She was reported in critical condition with third-degree burns over three-quarters of her body, The Miami Herald said.

Witnesses said the woman doused herself with a flammable liquid set herself on fire as she walked into the mall. Some onlookers screamed. Others tried to put out the blaze. Some took pictures.

The flames shot several feet into the air and encircled the woman, witnesses said, like "a human torch," one of them said.

``She wasn't screaming or saying a word. She wasn't running. She was just walking,'' another shopper said.