A man with a mental illness sets his house on fire in Havana and threatens his neighbors: "He says he will set the neighborhood on fire."

Residents of Arroyo Naranjo warned about a man with mental health problems who caused a fire in his house, raising concerns about the safety of the building's inhabitants.

The residents of the building located on Arday Street between Escambray and Florida, reported that the man was detained for the incident, but released by the police a few hours later, as it was considered a matter of Citizen Services at the municipal government.

After starting the fire in his apartment, the man sat in a nearby park to observe what was happening.

"Above his apartment lives a mother with a small girl who was suffocating and they couldn't come down because the fire blocked the passage to all the neighbors," user Diamelba Hernández recounted on Facebook.

After being released by the police, "he closed the doors of several neighbors so they couldn't leave" and has taken actions that continue to worry the community, Diamelba added.

The lack of medication and specialized care for people with mental health issues is a social problem in Cuba, where other similar incidents have been reported.

In Santiago de Cuba, a man with mental health problems caused a small fire in his house earlier this month.

Seeing the smoke, the residents on the block called the firefighters, alarmed because nearby there are many houses and a gas point. The firefighters managed to extinguish the fire without causing damage to neighboring houses.