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Court Opens Psychiatric Detention Proceeding in Hamburg Hospital Fire

Experts report progressive dementia that likely left the accused criminally unfit.

Overview

  • A Sicherungsverfahren at the Hamburg Regional Court will decide whether the 73-year-old remains in psychiatric custody permanently.
  • Prosecutors accuse the man of particularly serious arson resulting in death and of murder with dangerous means in three cases.
  • The June 1 blaze on the Marienkrankenhaus geriatrics ward led to the carbon monoxide deaths of three male patients aged 84, 85 and 87.
  • About 34 people were injured, including severe inhalation trauma, one life-threatening case, and heart attacks suffered by a nurse and a security worker.
  • The court is considering excluding the public at the next hearing, following the man's provisional placement in a psychiatric clinic the day after the fire.