Hong Kong  - A man poured paint thinner over himself and burned himself to death in front of his wife and diners at a Hong Kong seafood restaurant, police said Monday.

The 54-year-old man, named by local media as Ng Wai-chung, went to the restaurant Sunday evening apparently to confront his wife who works at the eatery over a domestic issue.

He pulled out a bottle of paint thinner from a backpack, doused himself with it and then pulled out a lighter and set fire to himself in the city's Chai Wan district.

Ng was declared dead at the scene while his 48-year-old wife and another female restaurant employee were badly injured in the blaze and taken to hospital, a police spokesman said.

Cases of domestic violence and abuse have risen sharply over the past two years in the city of 7 million badly hit by the global economic crisis. (dpa)