An overnight arson attack that saw 10 people rescued from a fire in an apartment block in Co Down is being treated as a suspected hate crime, police said today.
Detectives investigating the deliberate blaze in the four-storey building in Newry’s Corn Market, confirmed a racial motive is one line of inquiry being pursued. Five of those led to safety by firefighters had to be treated for smoke inhalation.
The fire broke out just before 3am in a bookmaker’s shop on the ground floor of the building. A passer-by who noticed the flames while residents slept upstairs was the first to report the incident. Six of the 16 residents in the seven-flat block managed to escape before fire crews arrived.
All the inhabitants are foreign nationals, understood to be of eastern European origin. Among them are young children and pensioners.
SDLP councillor John McArdle said firefighters had averted a potential disaster. “I am highly relieved that the prompt actions of the emergency services in Newry have once again prevented possible tragedy,” he said.
“Nobody was killed or seriously injured and the whole community is extremely thankful for that.”
The fire service said smoke alarms were fitted in the building but failed to operate.
PA