Phillipsburg man burned trying to light cigarette dies

EASTON, Pa. — Authorities say a New Jersey man who accidentally set his hooded sweatshirt on fire while trying to light a cigarette outside an eastern Pennsylvania mall last week has died.

The Lehigh County coroner's office said Monday that 78-year-old Roger Carney of Phillipsburg, New Jersey died shortly after 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.

Palmer Township police said Carney was outside the entrance of the Palmer Park Mall near Easton on Feb. 21 when his sweatshirt caught fire.

Some people inside the mall saw the fire and ran outside to douse it with water, but Carney had severe burns to his hands, upper chest and head by the time police arrived.

The coroner's office said he died of complications from the burns and the death was ruled accidental.

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