Four men sit in scorching heat on a platform at the Bastei. They smoke shisha, ignoring the dryness and the danger of forest fires. A few hours later, the Bastei is on fire. The photo that BILD reporter Thomas Fischer (40) took of the bizarre scene was sent to the police. Now the suspects have been identified.
Did four shisha-smoking Iraqis (24, 24, 25, 25) trigger the devastating forest fire in the Saxon Switzerland National Park in July?
At least, that is what the police think: “Investigators looking for the cause of the fire were able to recover several pieces of evidence at the scene that substantiate this suspicion,” said police spokesman Uwe Hofmann (38) on Wednesday.
The police were able to identify the shisha-smoking foursome thanks to numerous witnesses who provided information after BILD published the photo. Police chief Lutz Rodig (58): “BILD reporter Thomas Fischer gave the decisive clue. We are grateful to him for that.”
The BILD reporter feels honoured, says: “I would have preferred to prevent the fire. It annoys me that I didn’t know that shishas are such a fire hazard.”
After the names and addresses of the four Iraqis living in Dresden were known, the police stormed their flats on Tuesday. Hofmann: “Among other things, mobile phones were seized and are now being analysed.
On the afternoon of July 17, BILD reporter Thomas Fischer happened to be on the Bastei. He took the descent to the Rathen Felsenbühne.
Here he spotted a group of young men sitting on a ledge behind the railing – at a camping table with chairs – smoking two water pipes (shishas).
BILD reporter Fischer took a photo of them: “Dragging shishas along on a hike, I’ve never seen anything like that in Saxon Switzerland.”
Two water pipes were placed on the table. One of the men was smoking. There was also a pack of cigarette filters on the table, and a water canister underneath. But there is a ban on fire and smoking in the national park.
During the night, a few hours after the photo was taken, a fire broke out directly below the platform where the Iraqis, now suspected of arson, had been smoking.
2500 square metres of forest were on fire below the landmark of Saxon Switzerland, including 200-year-old trees. It took 115 firefighters two days to finally extinguish the blaze. The damage to property amounted to at least 50,000 euros. At last, an undiscovered fire started to burn again and had to be extinguished.
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