About a week after the fire in a residential building in Gernsbach (Rastatt district, Baden-Württemberg), the bodies discovered in the ruins were identified by a DNA test. “Accordingly, these are the three missing children aged four, eight and 14,” said the Offenburg police headquarters on Thursday.
Firefighters had discovered the bodies “burned beyond recognition” during hours of extinguishing work on Thursday a week ago on the top floor of the building formerly used as an inn.
A fire broke out there during the night for reasons that are still unclear. Four people were injured in the fire, others saved themselves on the roof of the house or roped down from the building with power cables.
According to the police, before the fire in the Reichenthal district, there had been a dispute between residents. Whether this has anything to do with the fire is unclear. The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing. They went in “all directions”, emphasized the responsible public prosecutor’s office in Baden-Baden and the police. There is a “suspicious person”. Investigators did not give any details about her.
The former inn burned down completely and is in acute danger of collapsing – it is now to be demolished. The property damage caused by the fire is estimated at around half a million euros.
The house fire in the northern Black Forest and its consequences caused great shock. “I am dismayed by this devastating fire. The residents of the house have my greatest sympathy,” said Gernsbach Mayor Julian Christ.
Sources: Offenburg police headquarters, DPA news agency