An Italian man with financial difficulties doused his clothes with petrol and set himself on fire on Monday in front of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's home near the city of Milan, Italian media reported.
The Carabinieri military police who stand guard in front of the media tycoon's villa put out the flames and called for a helicopter rescue, the media reported, probably saving the man's life.
It was not immediately clear why the 30-year-old man, who comes from the island of Sardinia, chose to set himself ablaze in front of the home of Berlusconi, a four-time prime minister of Italy and leader of the center-right Forza Italia party.
La Repubblica newspaper's website gave the man's name as Claudio Usala and said he remained in critical condition in hospital.
It further said Usala had told police he was desperate because a bank had withdrawn a credit line for his advertising agency, which has 12 employees in the city of Cagliari, putting his business at risk.
Last week, an Italian pensioner committed suicide after losing money in the rescue of four small savings banks that was engineered in November by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's government.
