AN Israeli nurse died Tuesday after being burned alive by a patient in Holon, south of Tel Aviv.

    Tova Kararo, 56, was doused in a flammable liquid and set alight after a verbal exchange with a dissatisfied patient, a senior police officer said.

    The suspect, a man in his 70s, fled the scene by car but was later arrested.

    Israeli health workers planned to strike for two hours to highlight concerns over violence directed at their profession.

    Many Israeli media outlets reported the perpetrator was a holocaust survivor suffering from mental illness.

    Local police chief Sigal Bar Tzvi said the man had come in to the health center and was thought to have been unhappy with his treatment.

    “Following an argument, he poured a flammable liquid he had brought with him ahead of time on the nurse treating him and set her on fire,” he was quoted by the YNet news site as saying.

    “Resuscitation efforts failed and she was unfortunately pronounced dead at the scene.”

    (SD-Agencies)