Berlin police suspect arson in mosque fire

BERLIN - Anadolu Agency

A man looks at the facade of the Mevlana mosque in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014. AP Photo

German police have stated that inflammable liquid material was found at the scene of a fire at Berlin’s Mevlana Mosque, in its preliminary report on the incident. Officials from the police department say they are now working on finding whether the liquid material found at the scene is the cause of the fire.

The fire occurred on the night of Aug. 11 in an unfinished extension of a mosque in Berlin’s immigrant Kreuzberg neighborhood.

One of Berlin’s oldest and largest mosques, Mevlana Mosque was under reconstruction when a fire gravely damaged it, causing damage worth around 1 million euros.

Nobody was injured in the fire, which partially destroyed the extension and caused damage to the original building. In its initial statement, police had said the fire may be the result of arson and they were looking into a possible “political motive.”

German police then said the fire was probably the result of negligence rather than arson, with police spokesman Klaus Schubert saying Aug. 12 that an initial investigation found no evidence of arson.

The Mevlana Mosque has been undergoing a series of renovations and extensions since 2013. The mosque has 350 members and is a founding member of the Islamic Federation of Berlin.