Fire in squatted home leaves one dead, one hurt; Four held in arson investigation

A fire that left one man dead and another injured in Eersel was suspected of being intentionally set, police said. The fire took place in a squatted building on Voortseweg in the Noord-Brabant town just southwest of Eindhoven. Several people were taken into police custody.

"Four people were arrested on suspicion of arson. We are conducting a further investigation into the fire," police said in a brief statement. "The technical investigation that will determine whether arson was the actually the cause will probably only be carried out tomorrow due to the extinguishing work." The victims and those arrested were all adults.

The fire broke out at about 3:55 p.m., records show. The first victim was found injured in the fire soon after the emergency workers arrived. He was treated by paramedics at the scene, and was later hospitalized with serious injuries. The wounded man was one of the four in police custody, according to the Eindhovens Dagblad.

Firefighters continued their search for another victim who was believed to be in the home. The dead man was then found inside the building, the fire department said in a statement.

The victims and those in custody were all residents of the squat. A neighbor told the local newspaper that they were roughly 40 years of age. "They are very nice boys. Very sad what happened. I can't imagine they lit it themselves,” she said.

Firefighters brought two engines and a cherry picker to tackle the blaze in the home, where smoke could be seen billowing from the roof. The crews were able to quickly get the fire under control. However, their efforts to fully extinguish the flames were still needed well over an hour after the fire was first reported.