Three Indians killed in a fire at a residential building in the German city of Bochum were all from Kerala. The victims have been identified as Nova Sabu (25) from Kattappana in Idukki district, Anjali Sheela Joy (25) from Kollam district, and Sivin Johny (26) from Kalady in Ernakulam district, according to investigators.
German police have arrested a 41-year-old Romanian national who lived in the same building on suspicion of murder.
Firefighters found the three bodies in an apartment on the second floor. Five other people were injured. One of them is also a Malayali student and is reportedly in critical condition. Investigators have ruled out a technical defect as the cause of the fire and suspect arson. Police suspect the fire was deliberately set on the ground floor. The fire then spread up the building’s wooden staircase, which was the main way out, as thick smoke filled the corridors.
German police have arrested a 41-year-old Romanian national who lived in the same building on suspicion of murder, German news channel n-tv reported, citing the German Press Agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). The fire broke out at about 4.15 am local time in a multi-storey residential building on Poststrasse in Bochum’s Hofstede district.
A Bochum police spokesperson told WDR that there were initial grounds for suspicion of murder against the man, who had been questioned by officers from the homicide squad. Neighbours told police that the residents had quarrelled the day before the fire.
Prasanna Prayas, a ward member and a relative of the family, said Joy had always wanted a government job in Kerala.
