German Police Find No Evidence of Arson in Fatal Fire

German investigators say there is no evidence to indicate arson in a weekend fire that killed a woman of Turkish background and seven of her children in a building that also housed a German-Turkish cultural association.

Ralf Michelfelder told reporters Monday in the town of Backnang, near Stuttgart, that the cause of the blaze appeared to have something to do with the building’s electrical system, the dpa news agency reported.

He says “a technical defect in the building is the most probable cause.”

Turkish ambassador Huseyin Avni Karslioglu, who traveled to the town after the fire Sunday, said he fully supported the German investigation.

In addition to the woman and her seven children who were killed, aged between 6 months and 16, three others were injured in the fire.