Detectives have made an arrest in their investigation into an arson attack at the Sint-Rochus residential care home in the Flemish Brabant town of Aarschot last summer. An 88-year-old resident was killed in the fire. The suspect is a 34-year-old female employee of the care home.
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Carer arrested for arson that resulted in resident’s death at Aarschot care home
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After months of investigation, a suspect has been arrested for deliberatly having started a fire at the Sint-Rochus residential care home in Aarschot. The fire broke out late at night on one of the upper floors at the home on 22 July this year. All 162 residents had to be evacuated. This proved to be a difficult task given that many of them have mobility issues and/or dementia. One resident, an 88-year-old man, whose room was close to where the fire started, died in the blaze.
It soon became clear that the fire had been started deliberately. Now after an invesigation lasting more than five months the Leuven (Flemish Brabant) Federal Judicial Police have identified and detained suspect. An Examining Magistrate from the Leuven Judicial Authorities has arrested the suspect, a 34-year-old employee of the care home on suspicion of "deliberate arson by night in a building that is inhabited resulting in a fatality". Magistrates will decide on Tuesday whether the suspect will remain in custody.