A shop owner in Manchester has slammed three criminals who had accidentally set themselves alight in his store as part of a botched arson attempt.
The failed arson attempt took place at Zaf’s Go Local in Ancoats, Manchester, on 25 August. Three men were seen on CCTV running up to the store, with one pouring petrol on the floor. The suspects fled the scene, with one appearing to be on fire.
Speaking to Better Retailing, store owner Zaf Iqbal said that no customers were in store, but just himself and his colleague who “reactively instinctively to put the fire out and get out”.
“Two criminals poured loads of petrol on the floor, while one stood by the door,” he said. “After one set the floor alight, all three of them just ran out. The idiots put themselves on fire. Britain’s dumbest criminals – that’s what I’ve named them. There aren’t any motives found yet, but we’re just working with the police to try to find one.
“Normally people would be scared, not know what to do or panic. But we didn’t panic – we just put the fire out. My family have owned this store for 40 years, and luckily they weren’t around at the time. I’m really glad about that, in case anything happened.”
CCTV images show the criminals’ clothes on fire as they run away from the store. The suspects have not yet been caught by the police.
Iqbal added: “At the moment, I’m feeling fine. We snapped into action, put the fire out and then got out ourselves. It was quite an instinctive thing. With it thankfully being just us two around, it made it easier to sort out the fire and get out ourselves. Nothing like this has happened before, and I haven’t thought about them coming back or it happening again.”
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said the incident is being investigated.
“At around 5:40pm on Sunday 25 August, three unknown men entered the shop and poured a small amount of petrol on the shop floor,” they said. “The fire was extinguished and thankfully, no one was injured and all occupants were safely evacuated. Detectives from North Manchester CID are investigating the incident and although no arrests have been made so far, enquiries are ongoing into locating the three men.”
The police added that anyone with information is urged at contact police on 101, quoting the log number 2238 of 25/08/24. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online via crimestoppers-uk.org.
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