The sacristy of a church in northern France has been burnt down — it may not have been an accident
On Sunday, the 5th of May, the sacristy of the church of Saint Peter of Equilhen-Plage, a region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, was burnt down. Following initial investigations, police now believe that the fire was started maliciously.
The fire was first noticed early on Sunday morning. Firefighters arrived at 6 AM and brought the blaze under control within two hours.
The mayor of the town, Christian Fourcroy, arrived at 6:30 AM. He reported that “flames were coming out from the windows of the sanctuary of the church.”
Police started investigating the reason for the fire. While it was believed there an electrical fault in the fuse board located in the sacristy could have caused the accident, further investigation revealed that there had been signs of forced entry through the door to the sacristy. Three security cameras located on the premises failed to function because of the fire.
The church has been closed to the public since Sunday because of the damage done to the electrical and gas supply systems.
If police find the perpetrators of the fire and prove for certain that the cause of the fire was deliberate, then the theory that recent outbreaks of fires in some church buildings throughout the country were all accidental, would also be cast into doubt.
Source: Christianophobie, La Voix du Nord
Photo: La Voix du Nord
