German authorities have arrested a 41-year-old resident of the building on suspicion of murder after ruling out a technical fault as the cause of the blaze.
Police said they suspect arson may have been involved, but the exact cause of the fire and a possible motive have not yet been established. Three Indian nationals in their twenties died after a fire swept through a residential building in Bochum, Germany, in the early hours of Tuesday.
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Emergency crews were called at about 4.15 am local time after witnesses raised the alarm. Around 90 firefighters, ambulance workers and other emergency personnel were involved at the height of the operation. Detectives then detained a 41-year-old man who lived at the address.
Police believe arson may have caused the blaze, but WDR reported that investigators have not yet established precisely how the fire started or whether it was set deliberately.
Officers had earlier visited the property, including as recently as Sunday, but said those incidents have no known connection to the fatal fire. The fire service said attempts to resuscitate them failed. The fire broke out at a block of flats on Poststrasse in Bochum’s Hofstede district, in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. These claims have not been independently verified. Police have also not established any link between the alleged disturbances and the fatal fire. The three Indian nationals were found in the second-floor flat as crews searched the building. He was questioned by officers from the homicide squad and is under investigation on suspicion of murder.
On Wednesday, police said fire experts had inspected the building and ruled out a technical defect.
