93-year-old suspected of deliberately detonating house in Vienna's Floridsdorf district
A 93-year-old man is suspected of deliberately causing a gas explosion in Vienna's Floridsdorf district in the night leading into Sunday. His residential house was destroyed and nine people were injured.
93-year-old suspected of deliberately detonating house in Vienna's Floridsdorf district
The public prosecutor's office is detaining a 93-year-old resident of a single-family house in Vienna's Floridsdorf district. He is suspected of intentionally triggering a gas explosion in the night leading into Sunday that completely destroyed his own home.
Nine people were injured in the detonation. Three of them, including the suspect himself, had to be admitted to hospital. Among the injured is also a 25-year-old pregnant woman. Six further neighbours were treated by emergency services on site.
The house was completely demolished by the explosion, and a fire subsequently broke out. Vienna's fire service immediately began extinguishing operations and inspecting damaged buildings and vehicles.
Afterwards, emergency personnel searched through the rubble with the help of rescue dogs. One of the dogs marked a location where a person was buried. A specialist unit located the 93-year-old with a camera probe and freed him from the rubble.
On the instructions of the public prosecutor's office, the man was taken into custody on suspicion of intentional endangerment of the public. As he is currently receiving medical treatment, police are guarding him in hospital. Investigators are still working on clarifying the motive. The investigation was taken over by fire-cause investigators from the Vienna State Criminal Police Office.
The exact circumstances of the act remain unclear. Austrian media speculated about a dispute in connection with property, but a police spokesperson refused to confirm this to APA. He referred to a planned interrogation of the 93-year-old, the date of which remains open as the man is currently on the intensive care unit.
Source: Aktuality