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With Bulgarian and German flags: Hundreds of people march through Solingen in memory of the fire victims

Photo: Gianni Gattus / dpa

Five days after the suspected arson in a residential building in Solingen, several hundred people followed a funeral march for the victims. The participants marched from the city center to the burned-out house and, according to a dpa reporter, shouted “enlightenment” and “justice for all” in Turkish. The city and the families of the deceased invited people to the funeral march, which was declared silent.

During the devastating fire early on Monday morning, a family from Bulgaria was unable to escape from the attic of the house. The 28 and 29 year old parents and two girls aged three years and five months were killed. According to the public prosecutor's office, three injured people are being treated in intensive care. There was no information about her condition on Saturday.

No urgent suspicion yet

According to the public prosecutor's office, there was no urgent suspicion as of Saturday afternoon. A man who was provisionally arrested was released on Friday after his alibi was checked and confirmed.

According to police, around 600 people took part in the funeral procession, and another 120 held a vigil at the burned-out house. Co-organizers estimated the total number of participants at more than 1,000. Some participants waved Bulgarian flags and held up pictures of the victims. An imam recited Quranic surahs.

At the request of the relatives, Mayor Tim Kurzbach asked that political messages be avoided. “We stand here, like you, deeply shocked,” Kurzbach said in a speech. "In these moments of darkness, we can only come together in tears to show respect for those who have died."

The chairman of the Islamic association Ditib, Muharrem Kuzey, said he was reminded of the arson attack in Solingen in 1993. "House fires trigger a deep-rooted fear in us; they have become a deep trauma in us." In May 1993, five women and girls of Turkish origin were murdered in a nighttime arson attack with a right-wing extremist background. The attack marked the low point in a series of racist attacks on people of foreign origin in Germany.

Meanwhile, investigators are pursuing further information about Monday's fire. There was no urgent suspicion of a crime until Saturday morning, as public prosecutor Heribert Kaune-Gebhardt said at the request of the German Press Agency. "We are pursuing a number of investigative approaches." According to the public prosecutor's office, there are currently no indications of a racist background. According to a preliminary report from experts, it is assumed that arson was intentionally set. The remains of an accelerant were found in the wooden stairwell.

jpa/dpa