A young person has been arrested as part of the investigation into the fire at the Vjesnik business skyscraper in the wider center of Zagreb, police announced this morning.
The investigation so far, as stated, has implicated several young people, one of whom has been arrested and is being investigated.
The statement added that in the initial phase of the investigation, it is of particular importance to urgently and unhinderedly collect information from all persons who can provide the police with useful information, making it an aggravating circumstance when the information and knowledge are made public.
The above can make police work more difficult, the statement states, because it "risks that information will reach persons who need to be included in the criminal investigation, and who were found out about precisely in that initial phase of the investigation."
"Since timely information is important to us, guided primarily by the interest of effective criminal investigation, as soon as circumstances allow, we will additionally inform the public," the Zagreb police announced.
Zagreb's Jutarnji List newspaper announced this morning that a minor had contacted the police and said that she and a group of younger people were in the Vjesnik building on the night of the fire.
They allegedly wanted to climb to the top of the building, but encountered locked doors on the highest floors.
At some point, one of the young men in the group started burning cardboard boxes, the fire spread, and they fled the building and scattered. According to the newspaper, the group consists of 16 and 17-year-olds who live near Vjesnik.
A fire broke out in one of the largest and most famous office buildings in Zagreb, majority owned by the state, on Monday around 23 p.m. Police and firefighters are still controlling the area, but entry into the building, which is almost completely burned, is currently impossible, as structural engineers have assessed that it is not safe yet.
Special traffic regulations are in effect, with roads closed around the intersection of Slavonsker Avenue and Savska Street, leading to heavy traffic congestion at one of the busiest intersections in the city.
The skyscraper, which was once a symbol of journalism and Zagreb, is 67 meters tall and has 16 floors, and was built over nine years, from 1963 to 1972. For the past twenty years or so, this office building, once the headquarters of the daily newspaper Vjesnik, has been mostly empty and neglected, with only occasional office use.
Minister of Physical Planning, Construction and State Property Branko Bačić said that whether the building will be renovated or removed will depend on the professional assessment.
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