A fire in an unoccupied refugee shelter in southern Germany on November 23 may have been the result of an arson attack. Police are currently looking for a possible witness.
After a fire broke out in an uninhabited refugee shelter in the southern German state of Bavaria on November 23, investigators have indicated that arson may have been the cause.
The shelter in the small, pop. 6,023 town of Wassertrüdingen, located in the German region of Bavaria, was still under construction. Local police announced on Sunday that the containers at the facility were not yet connected to the power grid, which is why a technical defect has largely been ruled out.
State security services are now investigating the incident, a police spokeswoman said.
At around 9 p.m. on Thursday evening, a man noticed the fire in the unoccupied accommodation and called the emergency services. When the fire department arrived, a sanitary container was already fully engulfed in flames. A large tent was also damaged. However, there were no casualties.
The police have estimated the damage at around €50,000 ($54,677) and are still looking for witnesses. In particular, a white van may have been in front of the refugee accommodation at the time of the fire. Officers are looking for witnesses who can provide information about the vehicle and its driver.
The district's criminal investigation department set up a commission to probe the incident.
Also read: Germany: Refugee home attacked in arson crime
Increase in attacks on refugee accommodation
According to Statista, at least 80 attacks were facilitated on asylum seeker accommodations in Germany between January and June 2023 --- up some 54% from the same period last year. The data comes from a report by the German DIE LINKE party. According to investigators, the majority of the offenses have a right-wing extremist motive. They often involve criminal damage to property or propaganda offenses, but also arson and grievous bodily harm.
Since the end of 2022, statistics show a rising number of attacks compared to the last two and a half years. However, the situation has not yet reached the numbers seen in 2016, when there were 3,500 registered attacks. Such attacks began to drop in 2017 when significantly fewer crimes were recorded against asylum seeker accommodations.
Also read: Germany: Increase in attacks on migrants and asylum seekers
With dpa