A 17-year-old Spanish girl in Gran Canaria is fighting for her life after a 20-year-old Moroccan set her on fire on Wednesday, causing severe burns. The Moroccan man was in the country illegally and was awaiting deportation.

According to the Daily Mail, the girl was with the 20-year-old, named Abarafia H., in a house in Gran Canaria, where he allegedly set her on fire.

The house was almost completely burned down, while the unfortunate girl was airlifted to a hospital in Seville due to the severity of her injuries. Reports say she suffered burns to 95% of her body.

“It was him. He threw a piece of burning paper at me,” the 17-year-old reportedly told people who were nearby – just after she escaped from the burning house – while the 20-year-old was trying to flee the crime scene.

Abarafia H. had arrived on the island of Lanzarote by inflatable boat on June 2, before being transferred to Gran Canaria, where he was awaiting deportation, according to the Spanish newspaper ABC, as he did not have the necessary documents to remain in the country. He was living in a “refugee” reception center on the island, near the scene of the incident.

The 20-year-old was arrested, and police are investigating whether there was a second person involved in the horrific incident. However, he claims that he never intended to harm the girl and that it was an “accident”, insisting that the mattress they were smoking on caught fire and then fell on the teenager.

The girl was living in a state-run care facility for minors – from which she had been missing for three days prior to the incident – while sources claim that the 17-year-old and the 20-year-old were romantically involved and that she was secretly leaving the facility to meet him.