KATHMANDU: Ganesh Nepali, the 25-year-old ride-share driver who attempted self-immolation in Kathmandu, has passed away while undergoing treatment at Bir Hospital.

Nepali, a resident of Soru Rural Municipality-1 in Mugu, succumbed to his injuries in the hospital’s Burn Intensive Care Unit (ICU) shortly after medical teams warned his condition had become highly volatile.

The tragedy unfolded on Thursday afternoon outside Gate 3 of the Department of Passports in Tripureshwar.

Nepali, who family members noted was under immense economic stress while trying to manage household expenses and prepare for foreign employment, became distressed following a heated verbal altercation with Kathmandu Metropolitan City municipal police.

The dispute began when city police clamped a wheel lock on his motorcycle over a parking violation.

When they refused to release the vehicle and summoned a tow truck, Nepali siphoned petrol from his fuel tank, poured it over himself, and ignited the fire.

Nearby police personnel acted quickly to extinguish the flames with water and rushed him to the hospital.

Nepali sustained deep tissue burns covering 55 to 60 percent of his body, heavily impacting his face, head, neck, chest, and arms, while also severely compromising his respiratory tract.

A specialized 21-member medical team, led by Dr. Piyush Dahal, had been working round-the-clock to stabilize his vitals.

Due to the extreme risks associated with internal tissue damage and respiratory failure, the government had temporarily suspended plans to airlift him via an air ambulance to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, concluding that transferring him on life support was too fatal.