Rathen/Dresden (dpa/sn) - After the fire below the famous bastion in Saxon Switzerland, the police have already received several tips. "These must now be evaluated, but there is still no hot lead," said a spokesman for the Dresden police department on Wednesday.
Specifically, the police are looking for a group of young men as witnesses who are said to have smoked shisha a few hours before the fire broke out at the bastion. "We have a corresponding photo of the group from late Sunday afternoon. We want to know from the men whether they observed anything and how long they were there," explained the spokesman.
The fire broke out on Monday night and spread over an area of around 2500 square meters, more than 100 firefighters were on duty. The work was very difficult because there was a fire on a steep slope with a height difference of 190 meters. For the most part, the emergency services had to secure themselves with ropes.
The head of the fire brigade assumes that someone threw a lit cigarette or something similar from the fortress and thus started the fire. "I can't imagine any other cause," stressed Kai Bigge, head of the Bad Schandau fire brigade, when asked.
After the fire, police are investigating arson. According to the public prosecutor's office, arson without personal injury can result in imprisonment of one to ten years.
