Rheine (dpa / lnw) - After a presumably intentional apartment fire in Rheine (Steinfurt district), a suspect was arrested. The police said on Saturday evening that the 20-year-old was being investigated for intentional serious arson and attempted murder. The man is one of three residents of the affected apartment.
According to the police, the fire in a former caretaker's apartment in a school building that is now occupied caused an explosion on Friday evening, as a result of which a wall collapsed and the fire spread. The apartment burned down completely.
Four men suffered minor injuries, two of them were taken to a hospital. According to the police, all four were able to leave the house independently. The alleged arsonist, a Syrian, is said to have left the ground floor apartment shortly before the fire broke out, according to the police.
The state security of the Münster police was included in the investigation. There is no evidence of a politically motivated act. The suspect was psychologically examined and brought before a magistrate. At the request of the public prosecutor's office, the district court in Münster ordered placement in a psychiatric clinic.
"The motive for the crime is just as unclear as the exact cause of the fire at the present time," said senior public prosecutor Dirk Ollech, according to the announcement. "We are still at the very beginning of our investigation."
