As of: March 27, 2024, 2:50 p.m
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A firefighter climbs a ladder at a house where there has been a fire.
© David Young/dpa
Four members of a family - including two children - die in a fire in an old building in Solingen.
An expert comes to a terrible conclusion.
Solingen - According to a preliminary report, the major fire in an apartment building in Solingen with four deaths was caused by intentional arson.
The Wuppertal public prosecutor announced this on Wednesday.
A father, a mother and two children from a Bulgarian family were killed in the fire on Monday morning.
Another nine people were taken to hospitals with injuries of varying severity.
According to the information, the fire started in the stairwell of the old building.
The fire spread to the roof within five minutes due to a so-called chimney effect.
“Clear remains of an accelerant” were found in the wooden stairwell.
Based on this finding, “intentional arson” must be assumed.
When the fire brigade arrived, the wooden stairwell was already fully ablaze, meaning the escape route was blocked.
Several residents jumped out of the windows in panic.
The fire department deployed up to 120 emergency services.
Fire experts inspected the house, which had become uninhabitable, on Tuesday to clarify the cause of the fire.
The initial assessment by the experts was “clear,” the public prosecutor said.
dpa