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Teens arrested over London mosque fire

September 27, 2015

London's Metropolitan Police have made two arrests after a fire at the city's largest mosque. The case had previously been treated as a possible kitchen fire.

https://p.dw.com/p/1GePG
Baitul Futuh moqsue in Morden, London
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Taylor

British police have arrested two teenagers on suspicion of arson after fire had damaged one of Europe's biggest mosques. London's Metropolitan Police said a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old were detained on Sunday. Scotland Yard said that they remained in custody at a south London police station.

London Fire Brigade said that 70 firefighters in ten fire trucks had to battle for several hours to put out a fire at the Baitul Futuh mosque in Morden, south London, on Saturday. The smoke could be seen across the city.

Most of building still intact

One man, said to be in his 40s, was taken to a nearby hospital suffering from smoke inhalation in the blaze, which damaged administration buildings, but not the main worship areas of the mosque. The fire affected around half of the ground floor of the building, part of the first floor and a section of the roof.

"It is a very beautiful building and what has happened is very sad," said Stephen Alambritis, leader of the Merton Council local authority.

The mosque was completed in 2003 to serve the Ahmadi community, a minority Muslim sect founded in 19th-century India. The mosque's website says the 5.2-acre (2.1-hectare) site can hold more than 10,000 worshippers.

ss/gsw (AP, AFP, dpa)