A 72-year-old landlord was set aflame by an exploding package on Friday, July 29.
The package burst in front of a house the man rented to two families on 222nd Street in the Springfield Gardens neighborhood, ABC 7 reported.
“I saw a man lying in the grass he was actually on his knees and he was on fire,” said Rick Thomas, a neighbor. “He was screaming out in pain, a lot of pain, he was engulfed, the flames engulfed his whole top half.”
The package was sitting on the front stoop for a few days, according to police. The brick facade of the man’s house was slightly charred by the blast, NBC reported.
“I heard boom and this big explosion, thought it was an accident,” a resident said.
The package was shaped like a cylinder, similar in shape and size to a Quaker Oats container.
