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Hamburg Hospital Fire: 73-Year-Old Charged With Murder as Trial Set to Open

Prosecutors plan to seek psychiatric confinement after an expert found the accused not criminally responsible.

Overview

  • The former patient is accused of setting his pillow alight with a lighter, causing a blaze that led to three deaths by carbon monoxide poisoning in the Marienkrankenhaus geriatrics unit.
  • Fire crews deployed more than 200 responders and extinguished the flames in about 20 minutes, with dozens injured, including nurses and a security worker who suffered heart attacks.
  • The case will be heard by a jury court from Thursday, November 27, with the possibility of sessions being closed to the public under court rules for psychiatric proceedings.
  • Separately on the A3 near Würzburg, a truck fire traced to a blown tire led to a full closure, and police initiated about 50 fines for people filming and for obstructing access by failing to form a rescue lane.
  • In Hersbruck, DNA identified the man found in a burned flat as the 68-year-old tenant who died of smoke inhalation with no current sign of arson, while in Stuttgart a house fire after reported explosions left two people injured as the cause remains unclear.