Buenos Aires, Nov 6 (IANS/EFE): A man was arrested Monday in Buenos Aires for allegedly setting fire to another man during an argument over an unpaid debt, Argentine police said.

The incident occurred in the capital's Palermo neighbourhood when the 41-year-old victim was doused with flammable liquid and then set afire.

Police sources cited by the official Telam news agency said that the victim came to a building to collect a debt from another man and the pair began arguing in the vestibule.

The debtor apparently thoroughly doused the collector with a flammable liquid, set him on fire, and then let the victim burn, closing the front door before fleeing on foot. But a group of local residents caught him and called the police.

A resident of the building broke the glass of the entry door and dragged the victim - who was still aflame - into the street, where other people smothered the fire.

"The patient is in serious condition due to having burns over 80 percent of his body," said the head of the hospital's Medical Emergency Service, Alberto Crescenti.