A 22-year-old man was indicted on Friday and held in custody after confessing to being the author of the fire that killed an eleven-year-old boy in Schiltigheim on Tuesday, the Strasbourg public prosecutor said.
TESTIMONIAL EUROPE 1 - "The flames, the smoke, it was horrible"
"Presented to the magistrate instructor, it was put under examination of the chiefs of destruction of the property of others by a means dangerous for the persons (...) and destruction of the property of others (vehicle and garbage cans) by a dangerous means for the people, "Yolande Renzi, public prosecutor of Strasbourg, said in a statement. "The facts led to the death of an 11-year-old boy and eight and a half years of disability to other victims of the same family," said the magistrate.
"No mobile was advanced by the interested party"
The fire began shortly before 4 am on 3 September in the outbuildings of a two-storey building in the center of Schiltigheim. The body of the child was found in a first floor apartment. Eleven people were injured, some of whom jumped out the window to escape the flames.
"No particular mobile has in the state been advanced by the person concerned to his incendiary acts: no revenge, no utilitarian intent, no political or religious act," said the prosecutor of Strasbourg.
The suspect claimed to be drunk at the time
In a state of lawful recidivism, the indicted person was placed in pre-trial detention and, according to the prosecution, "no current mental disorder" which would have required hospitalization was noted. Spotted thanks to CCTV, the man, without profession and resident in Schiltigheim, was arrested Tuesday morning. He had said before the investigators to be drunk at the time of the facts.
Of the 43 apartments in this social housing complex, nine have been completely destroyed. On the night of the fire, a first 23-year-old man was arrested and held in police custody before being released and put out of action on Tuesday.