The Associated Press
BERLIN — German police said Thursday they had not yet determined the cause of a blaze earlier this month that killed nine Turks, including five children, but said that it began in the basement and spread slowly.
The long-awaited initial report by police in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate said there was no indication the fire in the apartment building had been caused by a technical defect or the use of a flammable agent.
“The fire broke out in the lower area of the basement stairway,” the report said, adding that it did not spread quickly. “The cause of the fire is still not clear and requires further clarification.”
Police said that Turkish investigators continued to participate in the investigation into the Feb. 3 blaze, which exacerbated tensions between Germans and Turks, amid persistent rumors the fire was a racially motivated attack. Police have said they have no evidence of that.
In the days after the blaze, several Turkish newspapers carried headlines and stories drawing parallels to neo-Nazi attacks on immigrants in the 1990s and alleging that German rescue workers failed to respond promptly.
The accusations triggered outrage among Germans and renewed calls for increased integration for the nation’s minorities.