Reichenberg (dpa / lby) - More than nine months after the sabotage of a biogas plant in Lower Franconia, there are growing indications that the suspect could also be responsible for a fire there. The motive of the 34-year-old is still unclear, the police and the public prosecutor's office in Würzburg said on Tuesday. Officials searched the suspect's home on Thursday. Confiscated data carriers would now be evaluated.
The extent of the damage caused by the machinations of the man from the Würzburg district at the plant in Reichenberg is not yet clear - it is at least 64,000 euros. Various invoice items are still pending.
In the night of July 5, 2021, the plant initially caught fire. The investigators assumed that the crime was intentional, but initially they did not have a suspect.
In February of this year, around 1000 cubic meters of fermentation residues ran out of the biogas plant. According to current knowledge, two removal hatches were opened intentionally. The fermentation residues ended up in a stream. Experts were later unable to find any living small creatures in the contaminated water. The contaminated water was pumped out and passed through a sewage treatment plant into the sewage system. Two days after the exit, the creek was able to flow normally again.
The 34-year-old was arrested on the day of the crime, but was later released.
