Law enforcement gathers at the scene where a man set himself on fire on the Ellipse near 15th and Constitution Avenue on May 29, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Tasos Katopodis | Getty Images

A man who set himself on fire near the White House has died of his injuries, U.S. park police said Thursday.

The man, identified as Arnav Gupta of Bethesda, Maryland, lit himself on fire Wednesday afternoon on the Ellipse Park, not far from the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., in full view of passersby.

He "died of his injuries later that evening," park police said in a statement.

Park police said that they had turned over their investigation to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Multiple outlets reported that Gupta was the same man who had been reported missing Wednesday morning by Montgomery County, Maryland, police.

In a Facebook post asking for public help locating him, the local police said that Gupta, 33, was described as an Indian male who had last been seen by his family when he left his home around 9:20 a.m. Wednesday.

Police said in the post that they "are concerned for Gupta's physical and emotional welfare."

The U.S. Secret Service said Wednesday that officers responded in "seconds" after Gupta set himself on fire, then began administering first aid and transported him to a local area hospital.

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Gupta's death.

Alina Berzins, 17, an eyewitness to the event, told CNBC Wednesday that she saw the man "running, and then we saw him covered in flames" while she was visiting the National Mall with two of her cousins.

Berzins' father posted on Twitter a video that his daughter took of the incident.

The man's motive for the act, which has historically been performed as an extreme form of political protest, remains unclear. Another man had set his jacket on fire outside the White House's North Fence Line in April. That man's injuries were not life-threatening.

This is developing news. Please check back for updates.