Site of brutal assault burns down
From the site of the fire this morning. mbl.is/Jóhann Óli Hilmarsson
The sole resident of a house built in 1910 escaped on her own accord after fire broke out in the building at around 5 am this morning. The woman was driven to Reykjavík in an ambulance due to suspected smoke inhalation. The house was completely destroyed in the fire.
Sources say the building, that stands in the southern village of Stokkseyri, was the site of an unusually brutal assault in 2013. Five men were found guilty in the case, known as the Stokkseyri-Case, which involved a kidnapping, the use of a blunt force object on the victim’s knee caps, hands head and face, as well as the use of knives to torture the victim who was also punched repeatedly.
Firemen from two separate stations worked on putting out the fire that had spread inside the house with flames reaching out of the windows. Parts of the building were insulated with hay and other flammable materials so this morning, even after the fire had officially been put out, work began on tearing down walls in search of embers.
Stokkseyri has a population of around 500. According to the local fire department other houses in the vicinity were not endangered by the fire. Police are now looking into the source of the fire.
