At around 1pm today, a woman died on Queens Road, Richmond. She was on fire and subsequently ran into the middle of the road. The police attended the scene quickly after the event had been reported, but unfortunately, the woman died at the scene.

The event occurred on Pesthouse Common, adjacent to Christ’s School, on Queens Road. Horrified school children left school today with looks of shock on their faces.

As a result of the incident, the police closed the entire road, a main thoroughfare through Richmond, in order to keep the public away from the scene. Queens Road runs from Manor Circus up to Richmond Park, and traffic nearby was consequently gridlocked.

In addition to the multitude of police vans and cars, the fire brigade, a forensics team, including dogs, and an air ambulance all attended the scene. 

The police are trying to establish whether the woman was set on fire, or whether the event was an accident or suicide. At the time of writing, the identity of the woman, and the tragic circumstances of her death have yet to be released.

Lisa Peacock, a local resident, said: “This is shocking news for a residential road populated by families with school children from three local schools passing by daily.”