THIS is the shocking moment yobs try to set fire to a shop after dousing it with petrol – but set themselves alight instead.
Three bungling thugs charged into a store in Manchester armed with a can of petrol at around 5.40pm on Sunday.
Seconds later, a huge flame engulfed the store as the masked gang sprinted out the shop onto the street as horrified witnesses fled.
But CCTV outside the shops shows one of the men having set himself alight – before frantically trying to extinguish the small blaze.
Zaf, 39, who runs the GoLocal store, says he is in the dark over who was responsible for the brazen arson attempt.
His two brothers were manning the shop at the time, though no one was injured in the fire.
Zaf said: “The police mentioned this has been happening recently. We don’t know if it’s something to do with all the riots that were going on. We don’t know if it’s personal.
“We’re a big part of the community. When the incident happened, the majority of the estate came to the shop saying, ‘Are you alright? Is everything alright?’
“We’re a well-known shop in the Manchester area, and we’ve got a lot of love out there, and we don’t know what could have caused it.
“I’m just shocked myself and my head’s a bit baffled.”
The footage shows a customer paying for items before the three yobs march into the store.
Another was about to enter the store, before spotting the men and turning away.
Zaf added: “Thank god no one was hurt and we didn’t have any customers in the store.
“Thank god that the lady who was the customer before the incident – the blonde one – got out of the shop.
“Stock, we got insurance for, it can come back, but people can’t come back.”
He said it had been just a “normal” day before the attack took place in broad daylight.
The incident is believed to have caused around £15,000 worth of damage to the shop.
Zaf continued: “One of the lads was waiting near the door and then all of a sudden, those three lads come up, they’ve thrown the petrol on the floor.
“At first, they couldn’t even put the fire on, and then they ended up burning the shop, and burnt themselves.”
His brothers immediately ran into the stock room to grab water and mop buckets to tackle the fire.
They managed to extinguish the fire before it spread to the rest of the building.
The store has since reopened.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said the incident is being investigated and treated as arson.
A statement added: “Officers are investigating an arson at a business on Butler Street in Manchester.
“At around 5.40pm on Sunday, August 25, three unknown men entered the shop and poured a small amount of petrol on the shop floor.
“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.”
