Essen arson attack: 31 injured in fires, suspect arrested
30 September 2024 07:08
On Saturday in Essen, Germany, dramatic events unfolded. Almost simultaneously, fires erupted in two residential buildings, resulting in injuries to 31 people, including two children. The suspect in the arson is a 41-year-old Syrian citizen.
According to the fire brigade in Essen, the fires broke out almost simultaneously in residential buildings in the districts of Altenessen and Stoppenberg around 16:10 GMT on Saturday. Currently, 31 people have been injured, 17 of them seriously.
Two young children are in critical condition and were airlifted to hospitals in Duisburg and Bochum. All other injured persons are receiving or have received care in hospitals in Essen, with some suffering from smoke inhalation.
"People were hanging from windows"
A fire brigade spokesperson described the scenes as "very dramatic". Children and women stood at smoke-filled windows, screaming for help. Escape routes were blocked, prompting neighbours to use ladders to facilitate a quick rescue, though they could only reach the lower floors.
"When we arrived at the scene, people were already hanging out of the windows, holding children outside," reported the fire brigade spokesperson. Rescue services set up a safety cushion and used a turntable ladder to rescue the remaining residents from their windows.
At its peak, around 160 firefighters were involved in the operation. The simultaneous fires posed a challenge even for the emergency services of a large city like Essen, which has a population of 580,000. The operation lasted about an hour and a half.
Man armed with machete drove into shop
A few minutes later, a van drove into two shops near the scene of the fires. The driver exited in front of a fruit and vegetable shop and threatened people with a knife and a machete. Several men managed to fend him off with shovels and restrained him until the police arrived. Fortunately, no one was injured.
According to the police, a 41-year-old man from Essen with Syrian citizenship was arrested near the crime scene. An investigation is underway to determine any possible connection to the fires. A police spokesperson told the dpa news agency that the man is suspected of setting the fires and stealing the van. The Syrian suspect is known to the police.
According to the Mayor of Essen, Thomas Kufen (CDU), "the crimes were aimed at one family".
Kufen expressed his particular concern that small children had been harmed. He noted that the city of Ruhr had experienced "dramatic hours". The mayor thanked the emergency services and all citizens who showed "civil courage" in attempting to stop the perpetrator.
