Devastating fire with three dead – police arrest 41-year-old

Police have arrested a suspect after a devastating fire left three dead and five injured in Bochum. The 41-year-old is a local resident and is now being questioned by the homicide squad, the police and public prosecutor's office said.

He is being investigated for murder. He is said to have deliberately set the fire. A technical defect could be ruled out as the cause of the fire.

However, suspicion has arisen against the 41-year-old Romanian. The fatalities were two women (25/27) and a man (26) with Indian nationality. Bochum's mayor Jörg Lukat (SPD) spoke of a “tragedy the likes of which Bochum has not experienced for decades”.

The fire department was alerted at around 4:15 a.m. on Tuesday. People stood at the windows on the first and second floors, calling for help. The fire department speaks of 25 people.

Two people were rescued from the building using a turntable ladder, two others using portable ladders and one person using a jump pad. A total of five people were injured, treated by emergency services and taken to hospitals in Bochum. A cat was also rescued from the flames, given oxygen and then handed over to a veterinarian.

As they continued to extinguish the fire, the rescue workers came across the three dead adults in one of the apartments. The fire department extinguished the fire after around four hours.

As “Bild” reports, there is a suspicion that several strollers parked in the hallway were set on fire, blocking the only escape route. The victims had only moved into the house three weeks earlier.

The residential building and the neighboring buildings had to be disconnected from the power supply by the municipal utility. This means that the buildings are currently not habitable. One person from the buildings was accommodated by the social welfare office, the remaining residents were placed with relatives and friends.