Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Schwesig zu Brand in refugee accommodation: “We do not tolerate agitation and violence”
The fire brigade was on site with 20 vehicles and around 120 emergency services
© Jens Büttner / DPA
During the night, a shelter for refugees from Ukraine almost completely burned down. Arson is in the room. Now an expert should clarify the cause.
After the fire in a hotel used as refugee accommodation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a fire expert is to clarify the cause. The extinguishing operation is still ongoing, said a police spokesman on Thursday morning. The expert is used on behalf of the public prosecutor’s office if the stability of the fire ruins allows it. So far, the suspicion of arson is being investigated.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) does not rule out a political background to the fire. “One thing must be clear to everyone: people fleeing war need our protection and our support. We do not tolerate hate speech and violence!” Schwesig tweeted on Thursday in connection with the fire late Wednesday evening. Before her visit to the site, she did not initially become more specific.
On the day of the fire, the police had visited the accommodation – a hotel – because of a swastika graffiti on the entrance sign, as district administrator Tino Schomann announced. The culprit has not yet been identified.
The fire in the large thatched building in Groß Strömkendorf, where 14 refugees from Ukraine lived, broke out on Wednesday evening. Nobody got hurt. A fire alarm had gone off.
When the fire brigade arrived, employees of the facility and some passers-by were already trying to fight the fire with fire extinguishers. The entire thatched roof burned. “The roof just collapsed before my eyes. Only the outer walls are still standing,” said the district spokesman. Photos published in the media showed meter-high flames and heavy smoke.
The refugees could be accommodated in other accommodations. The three employees who looked after them were also unharmed. According to initial investigations, the police estimate the property damage to be at least a higher six-digit sum. It is therefore a timber-frame building.
Mayor ‘scared and upset’ after fire in refugee shelter
Mayor Tino Schmidt (SPD) was concerned. “I’m shocked and angry,” so far there have been no signs of right-wing activities in the region, Schmidt explained with a view to the still unexplained cause of the fire.
One has a very good relationship with the war refugees, said Schmidt. At times, up to 170 people from Ukraine were accommodated in the hotel. In the summer, a happy summer party was celebrated together with the refugees and the DRK, which looks after the facility. War refugees from Ukraine have been housed in the former hotel since spring. Most of them have now been taken to other accommodations by the district.