The motives of the act are not yet known but the balance sheet is worrying. Twelve firefighters and police officers were injured Thursday in a man-made explosion. Some of the injured are seriously injured and the lives of some are even "in danger", said on the NTV television channel the Minister of the Interior of the region, Herbert Reul.
The 57-year-old madman was arrested in his home in Ratingen, western Germany. Firefighters and police initially attended the scene after being contacted about a possible fire in the home and the presence of a person inside in need of assistance.
Anti-vax stances
When firefighters and police arrived, the occupant of the apartment "triggered an explosion" in their direction, said the minister, without specifying its nature. According to the daily Bild and the NTV channel, he then set fire to gasoline or another flammable substance spread in the entrance of his apartment.
The madman then closed the door and continued to set fire to the rest of the house, before being arrested by special police forces. They then found a lifeless body in the apartment, burned. "It is probably the mother" of the suspect, said the Minister of the Interior. According to Bild, the man was known for his anti-vaccine stance regarding Covid-19 on social media.
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