An investigation into a fire at an apartment in the Antwerp district of Hoboken on Wednesday evening has confirmed it was deliberate. According to the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office, the suspect apprehended is a minor resident of the building.
The fire, which started in the hallway between the second and third floors, immediately raised suspicions of arson after the firefighters extinguished it.
Police detained a potential suspect at the scene, a minor from a family where the mother and two children were hospitalised with smoke inhalation. All three of them are being treated in the hospital for smoke inhalation, but their condition is serious.
In total, eight people required hospital treatment, but the other five are recovering quickly. A policeman and a fireman also needed to be treated after the intervention, having had trouble rescuing a cat. Other residents had to be saved from the top of the building through a ladder.
The suspect will be brought before a juvenile court judge.
