“He Wants To Quit Alcohol”: Man Sets Kimberley Liquor Store on Fire and Ends Up Catching Alight

• CCTV footage from a Kimberley liquor store captured the moment a man walked in during business hours
• The man poured petrol around the store and tried to set it alight while customers were still inside
• The plan went badly wrong when he slipped on the petrol he had poured, fell, and then caught fire himself

CCTV footage from the Overland liquor store in Kimberley, Northern Cape has been doing the rounds. X user @KasiboySA shared it on his page on 6 June 2026.

The footage shows a man walking into the store while it was open and trading. He pulls out a small bottle of petrol and begins pouring it around the entrance area and near the cashier counter. He then tries to light it. What follows is not quite what he planned.

How it all went wrong

Petrol is very flammable. Unlike paraffin, which needs heat before it will vaporise and burn, petrol produces flammable vapour at temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius. In an enclosed space like a shop, that vapour builds up almost immediately. A small flame is all it takes.

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The man slipped on the petrol he had poured across the floor and fell. As he tried to get back up and make his way to the exit, part of the fire caught onto his clothing. He made it back to the entrance, picked up the bottle again and attempted to reignite the fire.

The petrol that had already spread across the floor from a different five-litre bottle that was spilling down after he fell caught quickly. Unfortunately for him, the resulting flash caught him too. The footage shows him falling out of the doorway as the fire took hold.

Police have opened an investigation into the incident and the fire, which spread through the store fuelled by the alcohol on the shelves, caused damage to the premises.

Watch the CCTV clip here.

SA unimpressed by the Kimberley liquor store fire

People in the comments had plenty to say, with many joking about the situation on the X page.

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@KasiboySA responded:

"I think he wants to quit alcohol."

@CphaSpain said:

"He needs a serious beating before going to jail. Alcohol is the only thing that makes men together and happy."

@Sonyelwako wrote:

"He just set himself on fire. I bet he's not stable mentally."

@Naoletona said:

"He's an idiot hahaha, who does that?"

@JChituu wrote:

"Well, he has burns all over."

@Assistant_Chair asked:

"Is he still alive because it seems he's also burning himself?"

More on SA crime and safety

• Briefly News recently reported on an armed robbery at Vaal Mall in Vanderbijlpark that was caught on CCTV and sent shoppers running.
• Three Hawks officers in KwaZulu-Natal were suspended after being linked to a cocaine theft.
• A joint investigation named Gauteng as the centre of a massive vehicle fraud scheme, and the number of luxury cars involved told a scary story.

Source: Briefly News