Fire at migrant workers' home not arson, police say
An investigation into a fire at a building where migrant workers were housed determined that it was not a case of arson. Several people were injured in the blaze in Velp, Gelderland, on Monday morning including three male residents. They did not suffer life threatening injuries, according to Omroep Gelderland.
VELP - In Velp bij Arnhem woedt een grote woningbrand. De vlammen slaan metershoog uit het pand.Met onder meer 5 tankautospuiten en 2 hoogwerkers wordt geprobeerd de brand onder controle te krijgen. pic.twitter.com/yBrwmcpkWt
— Holy shit it's (@fruckelicious) August 8, 2022
No evidence of a crime was found, police said several days after the incident. Dozens of migrant workers resided in the building on Willemstraat, including many from Poland. The structure partially collapsed, making the continued investigation into the cause more difficult, a spokesperson for the Gelderland-Midden Security Region told the broadcaster.
The building was previously targeted in an arson. In 2014, someone threw a Molotov cocktail there, injuring two people.
The director of a firm that specializes in recruiting temporary workers from abroad said this week that he was not aware of how the fire started. "There are a lot of sensational stories going around. But nobody knows. We may never find out," Moba Aoulad Ben Arroun of Horizon Groep told the broadcaster.
Arroun said the hospitalized men were not in grave condition. Authorities previously said that one person broke their leg when they jumped from a window to escape the flames. The nature of the other injures has not been released.
New housing was arranged for about thirty people in total. "It is really a very irritating situation. For everyone," Ben Arroun said.