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CRIME

Berlin man ‘burns girlfriend to death’

A Berlin teacher was burnt to death on Sunday in a block of flats, allegedly by her boyfriend. Neighbours witnessed the woman running through the apartment covered in two-metre high flames before she died in the stairwell.

Berlin man 'burns girlfriend to death'
Photo: DPA. The west Berlin flats where the teacher died.

The woman, named in media reports as Ulla N., is thought to have been set on fire by her boyfriend of eight years in their home in the West Berlin district of Charlottenburg at 2am on Sunday morning after an argument escalated, the BZ newspaper reported.

The woman's downstairs neighbour, 65-year-old Dusko Momic, told the newspaper how he heard loud screaming from the flat above, where Ulla N. lived. “I went into the corridor to see what was going on,” he said.

It was there that he saw the 45-year-old. “Her whole body was burning like a torch,” she said. “The flames were two metres above her body.”

Momic tried to cover the burning woman in a blanket to extinguish the flames. But it was too late. “She was already completely black. It was horrible,” the man said. She died in the stairwell.

Another neighbour rang the fire brigade as the woman's flat was also on fire and poisonous smoke had begun to fill the building. The building was evacuated and firefighters spent an hour putting out the blaze.

At around 5am, Ulla N.'s partner rang the police, telling them: “I've killed my girlfriend”. It appears, the BZ said, that the Cuban-born 51-year-old and Ulla N. were arguing before he covered her in lighter fluid and set her alight.

The IT-specialist managed to slip out of the building, unnoticed by neighbours. Police arrested him immediately after the phone call and on Monday he was still in custody.

READ MORE: Berlin man 'beheads wife'

The Local/jcw

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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