Four people arrested in connection with the Atherstone on Stour warehouse fire in 2007 – in which four firefighters were killed – have been released on bail.
The three men and a woman, who were arrested last Thursday on suspicion of committing arson with intent to endanger life, were released the following day on police bail pending further investigations.
“This is a very complex investigation and these arrests are part of that process,” said Detective Superintendent Ken Lawrence, who is leading the investigation into the fire and subsequent events. “We are gathering information from every possible source in order to establish the facts of this case and will continue to work tirelessly to achieve this.
“The joint police/HSE investigation is ongoing, we are still interviewing people and gathering new information and will be for some time to come,” he said.
The length and complexity of the joint police and Heath & Safety Executive investigation were highlighted when police revealed that so far they have taken 2439 statements from 866 people, and have gathered 3940 other documents and 3885 exhibits.
“We have always said this would take a long time and scale of these figures should go some way to explaining the magnitude of the task we are undertaking,” added DS Lawrence. “I am still keen to hear from anyone who may have information about the events of or leading up to the fatal fire on November 2, 2007 and has not yet come forward.”
