Shocking images shows couple engulfed in flames as 'jealous lover sets boyfriend on fire'

By Daniel Bates
Last updated at 10:55 AM on 17th June 2010

This is the horrific moment a couple became human fireballs as they were engulfed in flames in a New York street.

William Salazar, 32, is pictured with his clothes alight as he desperately tried to put out the fire. He died four days later in hospital from 50 per cent burns.

On the floor, his 50-year-old lover Agnes Bermudez lies screaming in pain as flames roar along her body.

Agnes Bermudez lies on the ground on fire as her boyfriend William Salazar is turned into a human fireball in a New York street. She is accused of dousing him in carpet cleaner and setting it alight

The couple are both in flames as Mr Salazar makes a run for a shop in a bid to find water to douse the fire

The terrifying images, captured on CCTV cameras, show Mr Salazar desperately running into a shop, where he opens a fridge door in a desperate search for water.

The shopkeeper and his assistant lurch out the way of his flaming body and grab gallon-sized jugs to throw over both of them, sending smoke pouring into the air.

But the blaze had caught hold of their apartment block in the Queens area of New York, and three people died in the ensuing fire.

The shocking video was shown to a jury at the trial of Bermudez, who was horribly disfigured in the blaze.

She is charged with four counts of murder for allegedly dousing Mr Salazar in carpet cleaning solution and igniting him, killing him and three of his upstairs neighbours in the June 2008 fire.

A third-floor tenant, Flor Sandoval, 48, tried to get out and hung from her window screaming, 'Help Me! Help me! Catch me in your arms,' as the flames inched closer to her.

Shop workers look on in horror as Mr Salazar runs into a convenience store next door to his apartment building looking for water to put out the flames

A shop worker runs to grab some water and move out of the way as Mr Salazar turns and heads back out of the store

Mr Salazar screams in pain as he runs outside. He was followed by deli owner Mohammed Almatari and good Samaritan George Zugajewicz who throw water over him

Onlookers on the ground shouted up to her to hold on because help was minutes away but she lost her grip and fell to her death.

Also killed was Sandoval's husband, Heriberto Garcia, 57, and their 20-year-old son, Felipe Garcia Sandoval.

As Mr Salazar was being treated for his injuries he told a friend at the scene that it was Bermudez who attacked him, a court in New York was told.

'Agnes is crazy. She threw that s*** on me and the whole place went on fire,' he is said to have told Sebastian Castro.

The jury was told that Mr Salazar and his ex-girlfriend had a drunken brawl the weekend before the incident.

Raul Palacios, Mr Salazar's flatmate, said he had punched Bermudez in the face in a row over a laptop computer,

Mr Palacios said: 'He jumped on her. He was mad. He was drunk.'

He also claimed that Bermudez attacked Mr Salazar in a nightclub because he was dancing with another girl.

'She started to yell at him, "You are nothing. You owe me everything." She gave him a slap,' Mr Palacios said.

Mr Almatari pours water over him, as Bermudez lies on the ground still burning

Firemen surround Bermudez after the flames have been doused. Slazar can be seen second left. He died four days later in New York Hospital's Burn Center having suffered 50per cent burns to his body

The court was also told that Salazar's roommate, José Chacon, told police he'd heard the couple arguing before the inferno and that he had screamed: 'Kill me, Kill me!' before the fire broke out.

She allegedly replied: 'I'm going to kill you. I already know about the girl. You think I'm stupid? You're going to pay for this!'

Bermudez appeared in court wearing a black suit but the skin around her neck and face was badly scarred by the burns.

In his opening statement her lawyer, David McGruder, claimed that Salazar had set her client on fire, not the other way round.

He asked State Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter to block the release of the video of the incident - claiming that the material was 'inflammatory.'

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1287098/Shocking-video-shows-couple-engulfed-flames-jealous-lover-sets-boyfriend-fire.html