THE HAGUE -- A man who set himself on fire on Wednesday in Amsterdam died from his injuries on Thursday morning, the police announced.

The man was a 36-year-old Iranian, whose requests for asylum in the Netherlands had been refused several times. He had been living in the Netherlands for a few years and had already followed a number of asylum procedures.

The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon on Dam Square in the centre of Amsterdam, in front of the National Monument erected to memorialize the victims of World War II. The man saturated his clothes with a flammable liquid and set himself on fire with a lighter.

Bystanders tried to extinguish the fire with their coats, but took several minutes to extinguish the flames. Emergency services arrived soon after and the man was taken to a burn center with severe injuries. His condition was already critical. The man's exact motive remains unclear. He was unable to talk due to his injuries.