Iranian student burns self to death with Molotov cocktails while experimenting with bomb-making elements

Mystery: Authorities still don't know what Saamer Akhshabi was doing with bomb-making materials in his apartment

A Georgia Tech graduate student who set himself on fire while apparently experimenting with bomb-making elements in his apartment last month has died, officials confirmed Thursday.

Saamer Akhshabi, an Iranian national, had burns on more than 90 percent of his body following the February 4 explosion in his apartment near the university, where Akhshabi was studying in the College of Computing.

Law enforcement officials investigating the case found in Akhshabi's apartment an apparent Molotov Cocktail and multiple plastic bottles filled with gasoline and kerosene.

Charred: This was the scene outside of Akhshabi's apartment after an explosion caused by materials used to make Molotov Cocktails

Following the explosion, 26-year-old Akhshabi was taken in critical condition to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where he died on Thursday.

'We have worked closely with other law enforcement agencies during the investigation of this tragic incident,' Robert Connolly, interim police chief for Georgia Tech, said in an emailed statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'The FBI has relayed that, to date, they have not developed any information or evidence indicating criminal intent in this investigation.'

Law enforcement officials determined that Akhshabi wasn't a threat to the Georgia Tech community, but it remains unclear what he planned to do with the explosive material found in his apartment.

 

Fuel: Authorities found multiple containers filled with gasoline and kerosene inside of Akhshabi's apartment

According to his page on the Georgia Tech website, Akhshabi has been enrolled at the university since 2009 and was scheduled to graduate in May.

Akhshabi earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Tehran ins his native Iran.

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Boom: Molotov Cocktails are made of bottles filled with a flammable fuel with a wick typically made from rags

'Saamer's initial prognosis was very bad, but he fought for more than a month,' Zvi Galil, dean of the college of computing, said in a story on the Institute's website. 'Our faculty and students visited him regularly, often staying for hours at a time. This was an excellent, promising student, and all of us in the college deeply mourn him.'

According to the AJC, the College of Computing at Georgia Tech is raising money to help Akhshabi's parents return his body to Iran.

Culled from Daily mail