2023-05-12 12:20:54
NRW
Explosion in Ratingen: The suspect was known to the authorities
Forensics on the way to the crime scene. photo
© Roberto Pfeil/dpa
One day after the serious explosion in a high-rise building with five life-threatening injuries, the investigators are trying to clarify what happened. Were the emergency services lured into a trap?
The suspect, who is said to have caused the explosion in a high-rise building in Ratingen, was no stranger to the police and judiciary. Because of an unpaid amount of money, there was an arrest warrant against him, said Laura Neumann, spokeswoman for the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office, the German Press Agency. He also has previous entries, “but nothing relevant, nothing comparable,” she said.
The 57-year-old from Ratinger is to be brought before a magistrate this Friday. It has not yet been finally decided whether the arrest warrant will be for attempted murder or attempted manslaughter. Police and public prosecutors wanted to provide further details on the status of the investigation at a press conference announced for Friday afternoon.
The authorities initially did not want to say whether the man could now be questioned and provided information about his motive. So far, there is no evidence of a terrorist background to the crime: a spokesman for the federal prosecutor said the local authorities were in contact. However, there are currently no indications that the investigations will be taken over.
Forensics are on site
A police spokesman said the apartment where the explosion occurred could only be entered by crime scene specialists on Friday. “There was extinguishing work and a lot of extinguishing water that had to be removed first.” In the meantime, forensics have started on site.
The most seriously injured firefighters and police officers continued fighting for their lives on Friday. Investigators are now investigating whether they were ambushed. According to the authorities, more than 30 people were injured in Ratingen on Thursday, several of them critically, when the explosion occurred on the tenth floor of a high-rise building. It was initially unclear whether they were all injured as a result of the explosion.
According to the information, it was used because there were concerns about the residents in the apartment in which the 57-year-old German and his mother lived. The mailbox overflowed and no one opened it.
explosion and fireball
When the police and fire brigade were standing in front of the apartment door on the 10th floor on Thursday, the 57-year-old suddenly ripped it open, police spokesman Raimund Dockter reported. “There was an explosion immediately, immediately, so a fireball came towards the colleagues from the fire brigade and police.”
As a result, a 25-year-old policewoman and a 29-year-old policeman were critically injured. “22 others suffered minor injuries,” the police said later in the evening. In addition, seven firefighters were seriously injured, three of them critically. The number of injured could still vary.
After the explosion, the suspect is said to have started a fire. He was finally overwhelmed and arrested by special forces when they stormed the apartment.
Finding a corpse
In the apartment they had come across the body of a woman. The fact that this is the mother of the 57-year-old is considered likely, but has yet to be clarified. The woman was said to have been dead for a long time. The emergency services noticed a clear smell of decay.
Dozens of ambulances, emergency doctors, fire engines and police vehicles rushed to the scene. Snipers had taken up positions on the balconies of the apartments across the street. Wrapped in a rescue blanket and wearing a breathing mask, the suspect was eventually taken to an ambulance with injuries and arrested.
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