The National Police have arrested the alleged person responsible for the fire declared this Saturday at the La Vaguada shopping center, in the Madrid district of Fuencarral-El Pardo (El Pilar neighborhood), an incident that forced the evacuation of the premises due to the intense smoke generated.
According to the Madrid Superior Police Headquarters, the arrest took place during the early hours of this Sunday. Agents from the Citizen Attention Group (GAC) located the suspect around one in the morning, hiding among several vehicles near the shopping center and showing evasive behavior in the presence of the police.
After identifying him, the agents confirmed that he was the person allegedly involved in the origin of the fire, so he was immediately arrested. The detainee is awaiting to be brought before the court.
The fire started around 5:30 p.m. in some containers located in the loading and unloading area on floor 0 of La Vaguada, one of the largest shopping centers in Madrid, with about 200 stores, 85,000 square meters of surface, and more than 25 million visitors per year.
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The large amount of smoke forced the preventive evacuation of the complex. The operation was coordinated by the center’s security staff, along with agents from the National Police and the Municipal Police.
Nine units from the Madrid City Firefighters arrived at the scene and managed to extinguish the fire.
Meanwhile, the Samur-Protección Civil medical personnel, who attended preventively, only had to treat a security guard for mild smoke inhalation, with no other injuries reported.
