TOURS (France) A 60-year-old French woman died on Sunday after setting herself on fire to protest a decision to deport her partner back to Armenia, hospital staff said.

Josiane Nardi suffered third-degree burns to almost her entire body after dousing herself with flammable liquid and setting herself alight in front of a detention centre in the western city of Le Mans on Saturday.

She was rushed to the burn victims' unit at Tours hospital where she died on Sunday, hospital staff said.

Mayor Jean-Claude Boulard ordered an investigation to be opened and said it must provide answers on “how a woman was led to make the ultimate sacrifice to save her companion.” An illegal immigrant, Nardi's 31-year-old partner Henrik Orujyan had been serving a two-year jail sentence for various crimes before being transferred to a pre-deportation centre.

He was released late Saturday due to medical reasons and placed under house arrest, according to a rights group.

Nardi had arranged to meet local media to draw attention to the plight of her companion.

But journalists said they were unaware of her intention to set herself alight and unable to prevent her from doing so.—AFP