The Civil Guard has arrested a 27 year old Spanish man in Sax, on suspicion of two offenses of attempted murder and two of arson.
Just 24 hours after the fire in a rural apartment block the man was arrested and taken into custody prior to his appearance in court later in the week.
First to arrive at the outbreak, which occurred in a ground floor flat on Sunday morning, were two agents of the Guardia Civil. They arrived to the screams of a 40 year old woman and her 14 year old son who were trapped in a second floor flat by the smoke and flames spreading from the apartment below.
Fortunately they were able to beat off the flames until the arrival of firefighters moments later, when they were eventually lifted to safety.
They were then moved to Elda Hospital, where they received medical attention for smoke inhalation after which agents took their statements, while a fire investigation team from Valencia, investigated the possible causes of the fire in the apartment.
Following their evaluation the investigators said that all evidence pointed to the fire being started intentionally.
Evidence collected at the scene, together with statements from several witnesses, led the Guardia Civil to the alleged perpetrator who is thought to have been a relative of those affected, and who had previously been reported for a number of different problems. He had also been in another similar situation when he had burned an adjoining garage in February of this year.
The Civil Guard arrested the man for two offences of attempted and two crimes of arson.
