Alex Trelinski
THREE people have been arrested for arson and fraud over a fire at Alicante’s Babylonia nightclub on January 23.
Two of the accused- the club owner and a hairdresser- have also been charged with attempted murder after setting off a gas leak while a man told to start the fire was about to do just that in the Calle Jovellanos building.
Police said the club was in debt and one of the two club owners made several changes to their insurance policy in a short period of time, including an upgrade on the day before the fire.
The Policia Nacional is looking for his colleague who they believe may have fled the country.
The attempted murder charges were added to the charge sheet after forensic experts examined the scene and police took a statement from a man who was ordered to start the fire.
The 26-year-old Columbian national has been classified as a ‘protected witness’.
He worked for a hairdresser in the same building and borrowed €2,000 in December to help him, his wife, and their young daughter at a difficult financial time.
Payback time came a few weeks later as the man was told that he had to start a blaze by the club owners and his hair salon boss.
That was to happen at around 1.00 am January 23 with fuel having already been poured by the owners on the club dance floor.
The man brought along two additional petrol cannisters which he emptied and as he exited towards the manager’s office, he was thrown into the air by a large explosion.
Unknown to him and confirmed by police scientific experts, a gas leak had been deliberately started, which could have been fatal but the man escaped and was driven away from the scene by his hairdressing boss.
The nightclub owner in custody denies all charges and claims that he had received a series of threats.
