A police report said that the 79-year-old man from Mgarr, James Vella, was in his field in St Peter Street, Mgarr at around 10.30am when he set a small amount of grass on fire in order to use it as compost. At some point the area around the grass also caught fire and the man was trapped in his own field.

Some time later, two people living in a nearby house noticed that the field was on fire and tried to control the flames using buckets of water. They then noticed that a man was lying in the field.

Members of the Civil Protection Department were called to the scene to help control the flames while a doctor from the Mosta polyclinic certified that Mr Vella was dead.

An autopsy is to be held this morning, but it is understood that Mr Vella died as a result of burns and asphyxia.

Duty magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera was informed about the case and appointed several court experts to assist her in the inquiry. Mosta police are investigating.