Murder investigation started after fire in German care facility

A German public prosecutor's office in Tübingen is starting an investigation on suspicion of murder following a fire in a social psychiatric nursing home in which three people died on Tuesday evening, reported dpa.

According to a police statement on Wednesday, the focus is on a 57-year-old resident who was seriously injured in the fire. She is being investigated on suspicion of triple murder and 11 counts of attempted murder, the authorities said.

Two men and one woman died in the fire, which broke out in Reutlingen in the south-western German state of Baden-Württemberg. Eleven residents of the house were injured.

According to investigations so far, the fire broke out on Tuesday at around 7:40 pm (1840 GMT) on the upper floor of the building in the suspects' room.

The police are continuing their investigations. Nothing is known about a possible motive on the part of the woman, who has a mental illness. She herself was seriously injured in the fire, is currently unresponsive and is being treated in a special clinic.

According to police, the three who died were a 53-year-old woman and two men aged 73 and 88. According to the rescue services, they died of smoke inhalation.