Two migrants have been arrested today after a migrant camp housed in Düsseldorf’s major international trade fair ground burst into flames.
Migrants have been housed in vacant exhibition halls of the colossal trade centre since September 2015, but now hall 18 has been “completely destroyed”, according to statements by fire crews, reports the Rheinische Post.
Migrants have been housed in a number of halls on the site, but had been moved to hall 18, which was normally used for storage and staging by trade centre operator Messe Düsseldorf. While the hall was understood to house 160 migrants, at the time of the emergency today the fire brigade actually evacuated 282 “residents”, most of whom were men.
Approximately 24 individuals have received treatment for smoke inhalation today, and two migrants have been arrested in connection with the blaze. Although German media reports it is still not clear what exactly caused the fire, a spokesman for the fire service told press that it spread too fast to have been down to a technical fault with the building, such as bad wiring.
A fire fighter had to be treated for exhaustion as he was overcome by the heat of the fire.
The Düsseldorf exhibition centre is the site of dozens of major conferences and trade fairs every year. DRUPA, the international print media fair, is presently ongoing at the centre but hasn’t been evacuated thanks to the distance between their exhibition hall and the burning migrant camp.
Germany has seen a massive increase in fires at migrant camps since the beginning of the migrant crisis, with buildings destined for or being used as migrant accommodation burning making the German newspapers almost daily.
While some fires have been blamed on German citizens expressing their dissatisfaction at the migrant crisis arriving in their neighbourhood, many fires have proven to have been set by the migrants themselves, either deliberately or through neglect.
Breitbart London reported on one such migrant fire in Inglostadt, Bavaria on a former hotel converted for 120 migrants. The culprit was proved to be a 22-year-old Syrian male, who threatened others with a knife, smashed a parked Porsche sports car, and set fire to his accommodation. In a more extreme example from April this year, a Syrian male confessed to painting Swastikas on his migrant accommodation before attempting to burn it down.
The man said he wanted to draw attention to the fact migrant shelters weren’t as spacious or luxurious as they had hoped, but wanted to blame the fire on right-wing Germans.
More follows.