A 39-year-old German man has been placed in custody, believed to be the perpetrator of an arson attack in a Solingen apartment building at the end of March, investigators announced on Wednesday (April 10).

The suspect is said to be a former tenant who lived in a rear building of the property until early 2022. He had been given notice to leave due to outstanding rent payments, said prosecutor Heribert Kaune-Gebhardt on Wednesday in Wuppertal.

The man is alleged to have started the fire in the stairwell of the apartment building on the night of March 25. A father, a mother and two children -- a 5-month-old baby and a 3-year-old -- from a Bulgarian family who lived in the attic got trapped by the fire and died, reports EPD. Nine more people sustained injuries of varying severity and were hospitalized.

Investigations after machete attack lead to clues in arson case

Two weeks later, the suspect is said to have tried to kill another person when he attacked a man with a machete in Solingen, causing life-threatening injuries. The attack is believed to have followed a failed drug deal, reports EPD. An arrest warrant was issued against him for attempted manslaughter relating to that case.

When investigators searched his flat after the machete attack, they came across incriminating material pointing them to the arson attack. The suspect had been filmed by surveillance cameras near the crime scene at the time of the fire and had displayed suspicious behavior, dpa reported citing police statements.

The motive of the 39-year-old is currently unclear, but investigators are ruling out a right-wing extremist motive contrary to what was initially believed to be behind the attack. Kaune-Gebhardt said they suspect a motive in the personal sphere. A search of the suspect's apartment yielded no insights into the motive, particularly not into xenophobia. According to the police, the accused has not yet commented on the arson.

Painful legacy of 1993 neo-Nazi arson attack

The arson revived memories of the racist attack on May 29, 1993 when men belonging to the neo-Nazi scene in Solingen set fire to the house of the Turkish-German Genç family. In the xenophobic attack, five Turkish girls and women were killed

Police Chief Markus Röhrl emphasized that there had been "intensive investigations in all directions" in the current case. "The arson attack has evoked painful memories of Solingen 1993 and caused uncertainty," said the police chief. He expressed relief that the crimes were now "largely clarified."

With EPD, dpa

Also read: Far-right terror attack in Solingen: 30 years later