NY Man, 89, Burned In Votive Candle Fire Dies

HICKSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) -- An 89-year-old New York man has died from injuries he suffered after his clothes caught on fire as he was lighting a votive candle in his wife's memory.

Police say Vito Badalamente died late Friday night at the burn unit of Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow.

He had third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body and was hospitalized in critical condition.

Badalamente had been at Holy Family Catholic Church in Hicksville early Thursday morning to light a candle for his wife, who died eight years ago. But he didn't extinguish a stick used to light the votive, and his clothes caught on fire.

Two priests rushed to help him after fire alarms were set off.

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