SHARE
COPY LINK

FIRE

Rinkeby fire claims seventh victim

The 13-year-old girl that was badly burned in the fire in an apartment in Rinkeby in western Stockholm on Saturday evening has died of her injuries. The fire has now claimed seven victims.

Rinkeby fire claims seventh victim

“She died at around lunchtime as a result of her injuries,” said Christer Claesson at Karolinska University Hospital.

The girl therefore brings the death toll to seven after the deaths of her 42-year-old mother and five of her siblings, aged one to 16, on Saturday.

An eighth member of the Somali family has been treated for minor injuries sustained in the fire.

The technical investigation to determine the cause of the fire continued on Tuesday. Technicians from the National Laboratory of Forensic Science (SKL) have spent the day examining the burned out apartment in Rinkeby.

“We hope that their expertise will enable us to establish the cause of the fire or at least to rule out possible causes,” Peter Saarman, a spokesperson for west Stockholm police told news agency TT.

According to the police an analysis of the fire could be completed within a couples of days after the completion of the investigation.

“Then we will hopefully know more about what caused the fire,” Saarman said.

Saarman was asked by TT if the fire was caused by a technical fault.

“Details along those lines have emerged, but that it nothing that I can either confirm nor deny at the moment, as we do not yet know.”

According to the police the girl died as 1.04pm. She had been in the care of the hospital since Saturday night and had been lying unconscious in intensive care.

“Her status has been critical the whole time and she has been swinging between life and death,” Saarman said.

The tragedy is the deadliest in the Scandinavian country since 1998, when a fire in the city of Gothenburg killed 63 people.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

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.

SHOW COMMENTS