Łazienkowski bridge fire likely not arson

The report was prepared for the District Prosecutor's Office in the Warsaw-Praga disrict.

The prosecutor's office announced that the samples tested by experts included three groups of substances, including some used for the preservation of wood, as well as other compounds found in the foam used by fire fighters.

The samples also yielded terpenes, which are compounds naturally present in wood, but also likely to be contained in a combustible fluid, such as turpentine.

Therefore, in order to clarify whether the terpenes found in the samples were derived from natural sources, or were remnants of flammable liquids, the experts examined five additional pieces of wood from the storage boards under the bridge.

“According to the [report], in the comparative sample of timber, analysts found a mixture of terpenes having the same profile as the terpenes detected in samples from the blaze, which indicates that the terpenes detected in samples of burnt lumber derived from natural sources – fragments of wood – and were not remnants of flammable liquids,” said the spokesperson for the prosecutor's office in Warsaw’s Praga district, Renata Mazur.

Parts of the Łazienkowski bridge being transported by road from Gdynia in northern Poland. Photo: PAP/Adam Warżawa

Meanwhile parts of the bridge which will be used to rebuild the central section of the bridge have been sent from Gdynia to Warsaw by lorry. (rg)