Associated Press

Hong Kong, June 19:

An elderly man in Hong Kong — who was hungry and stuck in his telephone-less home due to leg injuries — tried to signal for help by setting fire to a quilt. But his desperate action to seek help started a blaze that razed his single-storey hut, the police said today. The 60-year-old man, identified only by one name Leung, was seriously hurt in the fire started by him, said police spokesperson Ng Ting-kai. Leung told police that he set fire to the blanket yesterday morning in an attempt to draw people’s attention.

Leung, who lived in the remote hut without a telephone, said he had run out of food following an accident six days earlier. He had injured both his legs in the accident, Ng said. The burning house prompted a neighbour to call the police. Leung — found sitting outside the ruins of his home with his hair singed from the fire — was later arrested for arson, spokesman Ng said.