A 17-year-old Spanish girl is fighting for her life after she was set on fire by a migrant who was awaiting deportation.
The victim suffered burns to 95% of her body after being torched on Wednesday morning in a squat in La Isleta neighbourhood in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Her alleged attacker is a 20-year-old Moroccan man named only as Abarrafia H. by Spanish press.
He had arrived in the island of Lanzarote on a rubber dingy on June 2 before being transferred to Gran Canaria while he awaited deportation, Spanish newspaper ABC reports.
Harrowing footage shows the moment a blaze engulfed a house when a fire broke out after the victim was set alight.
The unnamed teenage girl managed to escape the burning building, reportedly telling onlookers: ‘It was him. He threw a burning piece of paper at me’, before he fled the scene.
The suspect has been arrested and cops are investigating whether a second person may have been involved in the horrific incident.
But Abarrafia told police that it was an unfortunate accident, claiming that the mattress they were smoking on caught on fire before spreading to the teen.
A 17-year-old Spanish girl is fighting for her life after she was set on fire by a migrant who was awaiting deportation
Harrowing footage shows the moment a blaze engulfed a house when a fire broke out after the victim was set alight
The teen was first rushed to a local hospital where she was treated for her burns, but was then flown to a hospital in Seville on the mainland due to the severity of her injuries.
The girl was living in a state care facility for minors and had been missing for three days, according to ABC.
Sources close to her have claimed that the pair had been romantically involved and that she would run away from her care facility to see him.
The local courts for violence against women have not intervened in the case while the police determine the context of their relationship.
The teen was first rushed to a local hospital where she was treated for her burns, but was then flown to a hospital in Seville on the mainland due to the severity of her injuries.
Abarrafia was also admitted into Doctor Negrin hospital following his arrest to be treated for smoke inhalation.
He has since been discharged and remains under police custody.
Abarrafia had been living in a home for refugees on the Spanish island which was close to the scene of the incident.
The Spanish archipelago off northwest Africa experiences large numbers of migrant arrivals. File photo: Sub-saharan migrants wait in La Restinga port in El Hierro island, the Canaries, Spain, 16 November 2023. Over 160 migrants, escorted by a Guardia Civil rescue ship, arrived on El Hierro island in a small wooden boat
In 2024, Spain received a record number of migrants who crossed illegally via sea, with more than 61,000 people having arrived on boats. Nearly 47,000 of those landed in the Canary Islands
He received a deportation order shortly after his arrival in Spain as he lacked the legal documentation to stay in the country.
His expulsion procedure allowed him a one-month period to appeal, but he never filed, it is understood.
The Spanish archipelago off northwest Africa experiences large numbers of migrant arrivals, as people mainly from West Africa attempt the dangerous Atlantic crossing in ramshackle boats.
In 2024, Spain received a record number of migrants who crossed illegally via sea, with more than 61,000 people having arrived on boats. Nearly 47,000 of those landed in the Canary Islands. They included several thousand unaccompanied minors.
