Investigation under way as minister calls fire at company site an “arson attack”

Hesse Interior Minister Roman Poseck has called a nighttime fire at a Heidelberg Materials site in the Wetterau district an “arson attack,” while police caution that the investigation remains at an early stage.

The fire damaged five concrete-mixer trucks and a wheel loader at the company’s concrete plant in Rosbach vor der Höhe, according to the company. Police counted seven damaged vehicles. The flames did not spread to buildings, and no one was injured.

Authorities estimate the damage at about 800,000 euros. A claim of responsibility appeared after the fire on Indymedia, a platform classified as left-extremist by Germany’s domestic intelligence service. The authors, identifying themselves as “Communists,” said they had entered the Heidelberg Materials Beton site and set fire to concrete mixers.

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A serious attack on a medium-sized company and on the domestic peace of our country

Police are examining the statement and incorporating it into their investigation, but are also pursuing other possibilities. The cause of the fire has not been established, and arson has not been ruled out. Heidelberg Materials confirmed the incident and said it was cooperating closely with the authorities, while declining to discuss further circumstances because the investigation is ongoing.

Poseck described the incident as “a serious attack on a medium-sized company and on the domestic peace of our country.” He said the neighborhood had been awakened by flames and explosions during the night, and credited the rapid response of firefighters and police with preventing injuries. He added that if an extremist motive were confirmed, the incident would fit a pattern he had warned about for a long time.

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Communists