During the day, the police are on duty because of swastika daubs at a home for Ukrainian refugees in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. During the night the building burns down. The district administrator speaks of arson. Nobody gets hurt.
An accommodation for refugees from Ukraine in the municipality of Groß Strömkendorf near the island of Poel in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was completely destroyed by fire during the night. "As things stand, all 14 residents were able to leave the facility unharmed. Nothing happened to the three employees either," said a spokesman for the Northwest Mecklenburg district. The police suspect a political background. The police headquarters in Rostock announced that state security had taken over the investigation.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was appalled. "People who found shelter in Germany before Putin's war had to be rescued from the flames," said the SPD politician. It is "very fortunate that everyone was unharmed".
As a police spokesman said, the fire brigades had to let the large, thatched building burn down in a controlled manner until the morning. According to the district, 14 refugees still lived in the former hotel and were looked after by three employees. Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig and Interior Minister Christian level want to get an idea of the incident at the scene of the fire.
At the beginning of the week, the police received a report of a swastika scrawl in the entrance area, the culprit of which could not yet be found. According to the police, it was not immediately clear whether there was a connection with the fire.
The fire broke out in the evening. A fire alarm had gone off. Employees tried in vain to extinguish the fire that had started on the outside of the house. However, according to initial investigations, the flames then spread to the thatched roof, the entire roof structure and the interior. About 120 firefighters, including the district administrator, fought the flames, which were finally extinguished in the morning. "From my many years of experience as a firefighter, I am currently assuming that the fire was intentionally set," the district administrator said in the morning.
The district was able to house the refugees in other accommodations. The mayor of Blowatz, which includes Groß Strömkendorf, Tino Schmidt was concerned: "I'm scared and upset." So far there have been no signs of right-wing activities in the region. You have a very good relationship with the war refugees. At times, up to 170 people from Ukraine were accommodated in the hotel. In the summer, a happy summer party was celebrated together with the refugees and the DRK, which looks after the facility. Most of them have now been taken to other accommodations by the district. According to initial investigations, the police estimate the property damage to be at least a higher six-digit sum. The hotel is a timber frame building.
