Dubai: A construction worker who doused his colleague with petrol and set him on fire — leaving him to burn to death — has been sentenced to death in absentia.

The 32-year-old Pakistani worker, D.A., had a friendly chat with his countryman warehouse keeper, A.A., and fellow colleague, S.V., at a building under construction Jebel Ali in February.

Then suddenly, according to S.V.’s statement, D.A. left and returned with a gallon of petrol, he doused A.A. and S.V., using his lighter to set them on fire.

Prosecutors said A.A. was burnt alive, meanwhile, S.V., who was covered with a blanket, managed to throw it off and save himself.

Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi said in courtroom three at the Dubai Court of First Instance that the death sentence had been approved by the three-judge panel unanimously.

Record showed that the defendant, who remains wanted by Dubai Police and Interpol, left the UAE illegally.

Prosecutors said the defendant took advantage of the fact that A.A. was busy doing some paperwork before pouring petrol on him and setting him on fire. D.A. was accused of premeditated murder and the attempted murder of S.V.

He was also accused of arson by setting the building’s warehouse (where the victim had been working) on fire deliberately.

S.A. told prosecutors that he was with the deceased when the accused walked in on them and they chatted for an hour.

“We discussed several issues and it was a friendly and calm discussion … there was nothing fishy or anything that angered the defendant. After an hour he left the warehouse and returned after 15 minutes. He had a gallon container with him but I didn’t know what it contained. I was busy helping the deceased with his paperwork and I had covered myself with a blanket because it was very cold. Suddenly I felt that my blanket was wet … I also noticed that the defendant had soaked A.A.’s clothes with gasoline and he also drenched the papers that were around. Then he lit a fire with his lighter. The deceased immediately turned into a ball of fire … he was running around and screaming loudly and he was in pain. I could not help him as my blanket was also on fire. However I managed to remove the blanket swiftly and threw myself out of the warehouse and cried for help. A.A., who seemed like a fireball, ran out of the warehouse and shouted ‘why! What did I do to him! I am a father of two girls’,” testified S.A.

Record said a co-worker grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to use it to put out the fireball but couldn’t save the deceased.