The criminal court in the Limburg city of Hasselt has sentenced an arsonist that started a fire that two firefighters lost their lives tackling to 5 years imprisonment. 3 years of the sentence are suspended. In addition to the two fatalities, a third firefighter was seriously injured as he attempted to tackle the blaze.
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Beringen arsonist sentenced to five years
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The prosecutor had requested that a 5-year suspended sentence be passed on the man for arson with aggravating circumstances. After having found the man guilty he was sentenced to 5 year’s imprisonment, three of which suspended.
What happened?
On the night of 11 August 2019 two empty shops on the Koolmijnlaan in Beringen were engulfed by flames. Firefighters from several fire stations attended the blaze. Things when badly wrong when there was a so-called flashover, a sudden ignition of hot gases with an explosion. Two firefighters from the Heusden-Zolder fire station died. A third firefighter suffered severe burns.
It soon became clear that the fire was arson. It wasn’t until last year that three suspects were apprehended. Two of them were minors at the time of the offenses, one suspect was eighteen. It was the oldest suspect (now 23 years old) that was tried in front of the criminal court.
The big question at the start of the trial was why the defendant had remained silent for three years. The fire happened in 2019, but the suspect did not come into the frame until 2022.
The father of one of the deceased firefighters asked at the start of the trial "Where was he during all those years? Apologies are overdue. I want them to be punished."
The minors involved in the fire already appeared before a juvenile court earlier this year. The juvenile court postponed their trial until February 2024.