Report cites arson in 1998 Swedish dance hall fire

A prosecutor's report indicates arson was the cause of the dance hall fire that killed 63 teen-agers in October 1998 in Gothenburg, Sweden

April 26, 2000
Web posted at: 12:12 p.m. EDT (1912 GMT)

From Manne Fridell of CNN Svenska

GOTHENBURG, Sweden (CNN) -- The dance hall fire that killed 63 teen-agers in 1998 in Gothenburg, Sweden, was arson, according to the prosecutor's official report made public Wednesday.

The report says four young men, acting together, started the fire deliberately. The four, who deny the charges, go on trial May 3.

One of the accused admits he started a fire but didn't intend for anyone to be hurt.

At least 400 young people, many of them barely teen-agers, were crammed into the two-story brick building for a Halloween dance on October 29, 1998, when the fire erupted just before midnight. The club had a permit for only 150 guests. Many of the victims were trampled as they tried to escape through the only accessible exit, while others jumped from the windows in the early hours of October 30.

According to the report, a fight broke out soon after the four suspects, now aged 19 to 21, arrived at the party. After a while, three of the four left the building but were let back inside by the fourth man through a fire escape. They planned to get revenge by starting a fire, thus getting the fire department to the building to stop the party, the report said.

At the emergency exit they found flammable liquid, and one of the men allegedly started a fire on the stairs, setting off a wave of flames and smoke that swept through the second-floor dance hall, killing 63 people and injuring 210.

Most of the victims were members of immigrant families from Iran, and from Bosnia, Macedonia and elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia.

There had been public speculation about possible racial motives in the fire. The four suspects are of Kurdish and Iranian origin and came with their families to Sweden in the early 1990s as refugees.

Three of the suspects were detained in early January of this year. A fourth was detained several weeks later.

The Gothenburg police have been secretive throughout the investigation, and court proceedings have been conducted behind closed doors. Investigators have interviewed 1,350 people.

Swedish official says arson caused deadly 1998 dance hall fire
February 24, 2000
60 dead in Sweden dance hall fire
October 30, 1998

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