A 21-year-old man from the Brussels municipality of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek has been arrested in connection with an arson attack that was carried out inside at Delhaize supermarket in Antwerp on Wednesday morning. No one was injured in the attack on the supermarket that is located on the Museumstraat. Fire accelerant was sprayed onto the floor and set on fire between shelves containing toilet paper and cosmetics. The store had to be evacuated.
21-year-old Brussels man detained on suspicion of having carried out arson attack at Delhaize supermarket in Antwerp
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In a statement released at around lunchtime on Friday, Kristof Aerts of the Antwerp prosecutor’s office said "Detectives from the Antwerp Local Police Service were able to detain a suspect late last night. He is a 21-year-old man from Sint-Jans-Molenbeek. He will be questioned by an examining magistrate later today." Since Mr Aerts made his statement, the man has been formally arrested.
For now, nothing is known about the arsonist’s motive. "The young man has not yet given any explanation concerning the offence for which has arrested”.
"Flames reached the ceiling"
The arson attack took place on Wednesday morning. The manager of the supermarket told VRT News that "While I was doing my morning rounds through the aisles I saw a man suddenly spray fire accelerant on the floor next the aisle with the toilet paper and the cosmetics. A few seconds later he started a fire. The flames reached up to the ceiling and the sprinkler system was activated”.
The arsonist then fled. "He was covered from head to toe. Only his eyes were visable. It was of course a strange sight to see this happen inside a shop.” As well as smoke damage there was also water damage from the sprinkler system that put out the blaze.