Two minors arrested for fire at Gelderland primary school

The police arrested two suspects in connection with a fire at a primary school in Renkum in Gelderland on Tuesday evening. Both suspects are minors, aged 13 and 17 years old, and come from the Gelderland village, the police said on Wednesday.

The fire at the Albert Schweitzerschool broke out at around 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday, NU.nl reports. Firefighters quickly established that it was arson. The first suspect was arrested at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, shortly after the fire was extinguished. The second suspect was arrested 30 minutes later.

The two teenagers are in custody for questioning. A police spokesperson could make no further statements about the case to NU.nl. The investigation is still ongoing.

The extent of the damage caused by the fire is still under investigation, but according to school director Rob Hulstein, it is not too bad. One room sustained water damage, and another is covered in soot. Almost all classrooms could be used on Wednesday morning, he said to the newspaper. Only the toddlers are at home on Wednesday, because the cleanup work in their classroom is not yet done. He expects that they will be back at school on Thursday.

#albertschweitzer #renkum 😨 pic.twitter.com/QCXS4VFbrW

— Maaike Lourens ☀️ (@maaikelourens) May 21, 2019

#albertschweitzer #renkum pic.twitter.com/uCXtzkyqjM

— Maaike Lourens ☀️ (@maaikelourens) May 21, 2019