NAGOYA (Kyodo) A 14-year-old junior high school student set himself on fire and died on a Nagoya street in an apparent suicide early Friday, police said.
The Aichi Prefectural Police said they received an emergency call from a passerby shortly before 2 a.m. reporting "what looks like a human being is burning" in Moriyama Ward. The boy was confirmed dead after fire department officials extinguished the flames.
Police later identified the boy as a third-year student at Fujimori Junior High School, a public school in Nagoya.
A backpack bearing the student's name was found nearby with a plastic bottle smelling of kerosene, a lighter and tissue paper, the police said.
The incident occurred about 5 km from the boy's home, and no suicide note has been found.
Police said they are investigating the case.
According to his family, the boy ate dinner at home Thursday evening.
Masao Ito, principal of Fujimori Junior High School, told reporters Friday that the boy had attended classes every day and that no trouble with other students had been reported.