Hospital fire in Germany kills three, patient suspect arrested
A police cordon at the Marienkrankenhaus hospital following a fire on June 1 in Hamburg, Germany. PHOTO: REUTERS
BERLIN - German police said on June 1 that a 72-year-old patient had been arrested on suspicion of igniting a fire at a Hamburg hospital that killed three people and injured dozens more.
The three casualties from the fire at the geriatric ward of the Marienkrankenhaus hospital were aged 84 to 87, and 34 others were injured, authorities said in an updated toll.
The suspect will be presented before a judge on June 2 as investigators try to determine if he was suffering 'psychiatric' problems, police said in a statement.
'While interviewing witnesses it appeared that a 72-year-old patient could be strongly suspected of being at the origin of the fire,' police said.
The fire began around midnight and threatened to spread to the first floor.
'Several elderly people with reduced mobility had to be evacuated along the corridors,' said fire service spokesman Lorenz Hartmann. AFP
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