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Old March 10th, 2008 #9
Alex Linder
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German prosecutors say they do not believe fire that killed 9 was arson


2008-03-04

LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany (AP) - Investigators have found no evidence that a fire at a house in Germany last month that killed nine Turks was an arson attack, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

«We can say that an anti-foreigner arson attack and any other deliberate arson are extremely unlikely» as causes, prosecutor Lothar Liebig told reporters.

He said there was no indication that a flammable agent had fueled the blaze, and that it broke out Feb. 3 in a very inaccessible location beneath the first six steps of the basement of the building in the southwestern city of Ludwigshafen.

Liebig said that two girls who lived in the building had retracted their earlier statements that they had seen a man with sticks, paper and matches on the day the fire broke out.
Through extensive interviews with a child psychologist and an investigator, the girls, who were related to the four adults and five children killed in the blaze, said they had «wanted to believe» they had seen the man, in an effort to explain the disaster.

«These are very traumatized children,» Liebig said.

Liebig stressed that investigations are continuing, and said that «we have an open field of possibilities as to how a fire could have developed.

He said it likely was caused by «negligent behavior of whatever description.

Turkish investigators who participated in the inquiry told reporters they were satisfied with the investigation, saying they had no doubts that the fire broke out in the basement and that fire and police had responded swiftly.

In the days after the blaze, several Turkish newspapers carried headlines and stories drawing parallels to neo-Nazi attacks on immigrants in the 1990s and alleging that German rescue workers failed to respond promptly.

The accusations angered Germans and prompted renewed calls for better integration for the nation's minorities.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the scene on a trip to Germany Feb. 7, urging caution among Turks quick to suspect a racial motive and thanking German rescue services for their efforts.

http://www.pr-inside.com/german-pros...ot-r469676.htm