There was a fire in two residential buildings in Essen on Saturday evening. Shortly afterwards, a man drove into a shop near the scene of the incident in a van and threatened with a machete. 31 people were injured, including 17 seriously and two small children with life-threatening injuries. A suspect was arrested.
The police in Essen are investigating the background to two fires on Saturday afternoon. A 41-year-old Syrian was arrested. A police spokesman said he was a suspect in relation to the two fires. He is also suspected of having driven a delivery truck into two stores a few minutes later. The suspect remained uninjured. What happened yesterday in Essen and what is known about the background:
According to Mayor Thomas Kufen (CDU), the suspected arson and other acts of violence were aimed at members of the same family. “The acts were obviously aimed specifically at a family,” Kufen wrote on Facebook. He was particularly affected by the fact that it was accepted that small children would be harmed. The Ruhr area city experienced “dramatic hours”. The suspect is scheduled to be brought before the judge on Sunday.
NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU)
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul made a similar statement on Sunday. The arsons were “the work of a man who may not have been able to cope with the separation from his ex-wife.” The current investigations led to the suspicion that the houses against which his actions were directed were all connected to the separation. “Many people were seriously injured by these acts. Apparently he didn’t care what his actions caused,” said Reul.
The suspect’s lawyer also spoke to WDR on Sunday. There was no political motive, said lawyer Volker Schröder. “His wife has separated from him and there is a family dispute about access rights to the children.” This escalated. The separation was already three years ago. At that time, the woman fled to a women’s shelter with their three children. She now has a new boyfriend.
Schröder assumes that the suspect suffers from a mental illness. As the lawyer further announced, the 41-year-old will initially be taken into custody. “In the next few days the question will arise as to whether he will be transferred to a psychiatric hospital or whether he will remain in custody.”
The police confirmed this account on Sunday. It was said that the 41-year-old’s wife had separated from him. In response, he targeted apartments and shops where people who support his wife live and work. According to Schröder, proceedings are also ongoing against the accused in the district court for threatening someone close to the woman – this person has now also been injured in one of the fires.
Fire engine in front of a residential building in Essen
But what exactly happened? As the Essen fire department told WDR, fire broke out a few minutes apart in two residential buildings in the Altenessen and Stoppenberg districts on Saturday around 5:10 p.m. According to current information, 31 people were injured, including 17 seriously. A fire department spokesman spoke of highly dramatic scenes.
Children and women stood at the window covered in smoke and screamed. The escape route was blocked. Neighbors had already set up ladders on the lower floors for quick rescue. “That can’t be right,” says Schehmus Mamadu, a volunteer who was on site. “Everyone is watching and no one is doing anything.” So he and a few colleagues took a ladder and saved three children on their own.
Because children in the attic were being held out of the window, the emergency services set up a jumping cushion when they arrived. The fire department then rescued the remaining residents out of the window using a turntable ladder.
According to the current status, two small children are in mortal danger. They were flown by helicopter to Duisburg and Bochum. All other injured people were treated in hospitals in Essen. Some of them suffered severe smoke poisoning.
A van drove into a vegetable store
A few minutes later, a van drove into two stores near the scene of the fire. The driver got out in front of a fruit and vegetable shop and threatened those there with a knife and a machete. But no one was injured there.
Large-scale operation on Zollvereinstrasse in Essen
There are several videos circulating on Platform X under the account @nycrox that apparently show the crime. A scene can also be seen that apparently shows the arrest of the suspect. He is held in check in a backyard by several men with poles and shovels for several minutes and is also beaten. The situation is extremely tense.
Then you can see how the police arrive with several emergency services and ask the man with his weapon drawn to throw away his weapons and lie on the ground. He submits to the officers and they eventually handcuff the suspect.
The police are asking eyewitnesses to provide videos of the crime. You can about that Police information portal be uploaded. Tips can also be received on 0201/829-0.
Our sources:
- Essen fire department
- Police food
- Reporter on site
- German Press Agency
- Thomas Kufen’s Facebook account
