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Two women arrested for Lausanne library fire

Two women suspected of setting fire to Lausanne’s city library have been arrested, officials said on the weekend.

Two women arrested for Lausanne library fire
Photo: City of Lausanne

Anton Rüsch, the prosecutor in charge of the case, announced on Saturday that a 21-year-old Swiss woman was arrested in the connection with the January 20th fire.

This followed the arrest on Thursday of another 21-year-old woman, originally from Kosovo, who has admitted to her involvement.

The two woman face charges of arson and theft.

Video surveillance cameras, installed in the square outside the library last fall, enabled investigators to track down the Kosovar, Le Matin Dimanche reported on Sunday.

The woman, already known to police for multiple infractions, including thefts and robberies, was identified by an officer viewing the videotape, the newspaper said.

In an interview with Rüsch, the woman reportedly admitted to breaking into a library office, without reason.

The woman noticed a safe in the office but was unable to open it, Le Matin Dimanche said.

She explained that she collected paper and set fire to it, on the spur of the moment fand or no particular reason, the newspaper said.

No information from the second woman arrested was immediately made public.

The fire destroyed two offices and damaged 100,000 books, which need to be cleaned from soot and smoke.

The head of the library, Frédéric Sardet, initially said the library would be closed to the public for a week.
 
However, it now appears it will not reopen for at least a further 10 days because of the work needed to clean the books.

Officials expect it will take several months before the offices can be rebuilt.

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FIRE

Situation ‘unstable’ at Copenhagen’s old stock exchange after fire

Three days after a fire which ravaged Copenhagen's historic former stock exchange broke out, emergency services said Friday that the situation was "unstable" due to equipment issues and a strong breeze.

Situation 'unstable' at Copenhagen's old stock exchange after fire

In the morning, during work to dismantle the scaffolding surrounding the building, a crane’s cutters came loose for as of yet unknown reasons.

It is currently wedged between the scaffolding — put up for the renovation of the historic building that was ongoing — and what remains of the walls.

“It is affecting our efforts”, Tim Ole Simonsen, leader of the operation at the rescue services, told a press conference.

Coupled with the wind picking up, the incident, which has temporarily halted work on dismantling the scaffolding, has made the situation “unstable”.

“The wind is blowing harder and harder, and there are tarps over the scaffolding that can catch the wind,” Simonsen said.

He added that this increases the risks, in particular of further collapse of the burnt-out facade which started collapsing late Thursday afternoon.

Located close to the Christiansborg parliament and seat of government, the Borsen building was commissioned by King Christian IV and built between 1619 and 1640. It was the stock exchange until the 1970s.

The fire began Tuesday morning under the copper roof of the building, which was undergoing renovations ahead of its 400th anniversary.

The cause of the blaze was unknown and Copenhagen police said Wednesday that a major investigation had been launched.

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