ELLSWORTH (AP) – Authorities say a University of Maine student who set himself on fire in Ellsworth has died at a Boston hospital.

Investigators say 18-year-old Alex Whitney of Farmington, Conn., was found Tuesday evening in the middle of Duck Pond Road with his clothes burned off. Investigators believe Whitney set the fire after dousing himself with gasoline based on statements he made to witnesses.

The blaze burned two acres, and a gas can and lighter were found nearby.

The fire marshal’s office says Whitney suffered burns over 60 percent of his body. He was treated at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor before being flown to the burn treatment center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where he died Wednesday.

AP-ES-05-21-08 1211EDT