Russian Embassy incident/Gendarmerie:Driver set himself on fire as law enforcement attempted to remove him from car

The Romanian Gendarmerie announced that the man who died on Wednesday morning after crashing his car into the fence of the Russian Embassy set himself on fire the moment law enforcement tried to remove him from the vehicle, Agerpres reports.

"At around 6.00 a.m. a car deliberately and illegally entered the security area surrounding the embassy. On its way, the vehicle hit the pedestrian protection fence and continued to roll to the access gates, without getting beyond them. The gendarmes in the diplomatic mission's defense and security force intervened promptly and tried to remove the driver from the car, at which point he set himself on fire. First responders of the Bucharest-Ilfov Emergency Inspectorate were immediately called to the scene and they put out the fire," the Romanian Gendarmerie said in a Facebook post.

According to the cited source, measures have been taken to secure the perimeter and allow forensic activities to unfold.

"Thanks to the measures set in place at the site and to the prompt action taken by the gendarmes on duty, neither the security of the embassy, nor the integrity of the diplomatic staff have been endangered," the Gendarmerie said.

The Romanian Gendarmerie also notes that starting with February 24, additional security measures were ordered for the protection of the diplomatic premises belonging to the Russian Federation, consisting mainly of strengthening the security and protection force by additional personnel and means and by mounting a pedestrian protection fence around the embassy; the Gendarmerie has been in permanent communication with the security officers of the diplomatic mission and no incidents have been registered that could affect the security of the diplomatic staff and the embassy.