A 63-year-old man burst into flames inside a Lower Manhattan building where Google offices are located on Friday, police sources said.
The victim suffered severe burns on his head, upper body and arms, sources said. Medics rushed the man to a local hospital in stable condition. There were no other injuries.
The man walked into the Hudson St. building north of Spring St. in Hudson Square when his body became engulfed in flames just before 3 p.m., according to a law enforcement source.
There is no indication that the incident has any connection to Google.
A source familiar with the investigation said the fire may have sparked when something inside the man’s backpack ignited. Investigators believe lighter fluid fueled the flames, cops said.
Video shows the man walking into the building’s lobby wearing the bookbag, a tan sweater, gray pants and sneakers and suddenly bursting into flames, the source said.
“At first I thought they were shooting a film or something,” said a building worker who witnessed the incident from across the street. “I saw the flames in the lobby. Then the flames were running around the lobby, and security was trying to put him out.”
“One of the security guards came out of the building with the burning backpack and threw it into the street,” the building worker said. “The others inside put him out with fire extinguishers. When they brought him out, he was terribly burned, all wrapped in bandages. I don’t know if you want to live that way. It was terrible.”
The NYPD set up a crime scene that extended outside the building’s front door, where a singed backpack was spotted lying just off the curb.
Police found a collapsible baton inside the bag, but have not recovered any political leaflets that would suggest an act of protest. The man did not make any statements before going up in flames, cops said.
A building worker, who asked to remain anonymous, said he reviewed surveillance footage that shows the man entering the building around 2 p.m., leaving, and then returning to the lobby about an hour later, where he burst into flames.
In June, Google renewed its lease in the Hudson Square building, where the tech giant occupies more than 400,000 square feet of office space.
The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau also has offices inside the Hudson St. building.
The building is part of Google’s larger Hudson Square campus, which also includes its downtown headquarters, 550 Washington St., located several blocks to the west on the site of the former St. John’s Terminal. The tech company also has a major office hub in Chelsea on Eighth Ave.
