Resident of Pontevedra municipality of Tui arrested for burning 21 vehicles over a ‘family disagreement’

Resident of Pontevedra municipality of Tui arrested for burning 21 vehicles over a 'family disagreement'

Image of cars on fire in Tui, Pontevedra. Credit: Twitter@SocialDrive_es

A woman was arrested for setting fire to 21 vehicles over a ‘family disagreement’ in the Pontevedra municipality of Tui.

Guardia Civil officers in the Pontevedra municipality of Tui, this afternoon, Monday, March 20, arrested a woman suspected of setting fire to 20 vehicles in the early hours of today. According to the force, the motive behind carrying out her actions is believed to have been ‘family disagreements’.

Her actions were “totally premeditated and coordinated” said Enrique Cabaleiro, the mayor of Tui. He revealed that the first investigations already pointed to the fact that the perpetrator had used petrol or some type of accelerator to start the fires.

Investigators collected images from security cameras in the area in order to identify those responsible. It didn’t take them long to find the culprit. The detainee is thought to be a woman in her 50s, a resident of the town, who could have burned the cars due to “family quarrels with her sisters”, according to Cabaleiro, as reported by niusdiario.es.

Experts from the Criminalistics Laboratory of A Coruña Guardia Civil travelled to Tui to collaborate in the investigation. They are a specialised team that handles this type of case throughout Galicia and Asturias.

“We look for the causes of the fire and determine if it was fortuitous or intentional. Once we decide that it is intentional, the Guardia Civil is in charge of investigating to find the author”, explained Jesus Ponte, the head of the unit.

In this case, the intention of the fire is clear, since there were five different sources. Several officers were observed taking photos and collecting samples of the burned vehicles. Once this work is finished, the vehicles can be removed.

The fires started at around 3:40am this morning, with residents woken up by the sound of explosions. Leaning out of their windows, they could see the cars burning and the flames approaching their houses. Some went out into the street in their pyjamas and tried to put out the fire with buckets of water and hoses.

In addition to the 21 vehicles that were completely burned, another five were partially affected by the fire. The flames also damaged various items of street furniture.

Dramatic footage of the cars on fire was posted on the Mi Hemeroteca Telegram channel.

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Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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