Malaga, (EFE)
The fire originated on August 30, 2012 in a place known as Barranco Blanco and the fire was considered extinguished on September 4 after affecting six municipalities in Malaga (Coín, Mijas, Marbella, Alhaurín el Grande, Ojén and Monda). .
The Court highlights in the sentence, to which EFE has had access, that “it is not possible to extract with certainty and certainty” what was the initial point of the fire.
The Chamber explains that there are discrepancies in the expert opinions and that all of them are reasoned and motivated, “based on the best knowledge and belief of their authors”, but it cannot be deduced that the fire originated in the delimited area.
“It is notorious that it cannot be determined, in a certain and safe way, what is the cause that produces the fire, since it could be a fortuitous action or an imprudent action by someone due to burning stubble, pruning or preparing meals (barbecues, camping). or by cigarette butts”, says the Court.
without any proof
The magistrates indicate that “there is no evidence (that goes beyond simple hypotheses, possibilities, considerations, beliefs, depending on the place or starting point) and therefore, no one can be held responsible for it.”
In the proven facts, it is insisted that it is unknown how the fire occurred and that it has not been proven that the defendant set the fire, nor are there any indications that determine it or that he violated specific fire control and prevention regulations on that day.
The defendant had always denied the facts and during his statement he assured that he did not burn any pruning, that he only cleaned the pool and watered the plants. He also stressed that the owner of the farm insisted a lot on accumulating the pruning and depositing it in a clean point.
Despite this, the prosecutor maintained the accusation against him but due to the time elapsed since the events occurred, more than eleven years, he considered that the mitigation of very qualified undue delays had to be applied.
The fire spread rapidly given the offshore wind in the area and new outbreaks began that caused the fire to advance “in jumps and very quickly”, for which people had to be evacuated from the area and the flames reached the coast .
More than 5,000 people were evicted by the advance of the fire (including the entire town of Ojén), while houses and an area of high economic value were burning.
The death of a German citizen
The defendant worked for the City Council and as a second activity he did maintenance, cleaning and care tasks for a single-family home, located in the municipality of Coín (Málaga), owned by a Belgian citizen who did not reside permanently and with whom he had arranged the performance of said tasks.
The fire caused the death of a 54-year-old German citizen, who was found inside a burnt-out house and five people were injured, two of them (a German couple) seriously and the woman, who suffered third-degree injuries in more than sixty percent of the body, ended up dying in his country as a result of them.
The husband, who spent three months in the Intensive Care Unit of the Nuremberg hospital, has become an invalid and, in addition to not being able to walk or stand up, his hands have become useless.
The other three victims, Belgian nationals, a mother and her two daughters aged 12 and 4, suffered injuries of varying degrees. EFE