2019年4月9日

Dear all,

There is some shocking news that I would like to share with you. The police have arrested a 21 year old man from Hillegom who is a  a suspect in the investigation into the fire that led to the tragic death of our PhD student Maolin Zhang. The police have already informed the family of Maolin.

While Maolin’s death was very difficult to comprehend, this makes it even harder…. 

kind regards, 

Huub

translation from the original press release from the police, to be found here:

https://www.politie.nl/mijn-buurt/nieuws/2019/april/9/06-hillegom-verdachte-aangehouden-voor-brand-hillegom.html

Suspect arrested for Hillegom fire

Hillegom - Monday evening, April 8, the police arrested a 21 year old man from Hillegom. The man is a suspect in the investigation into the fire at the Stationsweg on January 7 of this year, in which a 27 year old Chinese student lost his life. 

The police directly started a large investigation under the direction of the prosecutor. Over the past months, an intensive investigation was carried out into the cause of the fire at the Stationsweg. During the investigation the police tracked down a 21 year old suspect. He was arrested Monday evening and transferred to the police station for questioning. His involvement in the fire is being further investigated.

De suspect will be brought before the magistrate on April 11.

The devastating house fire started on January 18 around 05:00 am. While the emergency services were quickly on the scene, they could not prevent the death of the 27 year old man from China.