LONDON: Four teenagers have been arrested after a suspicious weekend fire at an Islamic boarding school in a London suburb, police said yesterday.
The fire at the Darul Uloom Islamic School in Chislehurst comes at a time of heightened community tensions in Britain.
There were 130 people inside the school at the time of the blaze and police said two were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
Police said two teens aged 17 and two aged 18 have been arrested on suspicion of arson. Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said police are now investigating two suspicious fires at two locations within the Islamic community that have happened in recent days.
“Fortunately no one has been hurt, but we know that fires can often prove fatal,” he said. He said police have added officers and patrols at sensitive Islamic sites throughout London.
Anti-Islamic attacks have increased since an off-duty British soldier was killed last month, allegedly by two Islamic extremists. Two men have been charged with murder.
