Norwegian police find no evidence of arson in deadly ferry fire

After two years of fresh investigations, Norwegian police concluded there was no evidence of arson in the ferry fire in the Scandinavian Star that killed 159 people in 1990, newspaper VG reported on Tuesday.

The crew, which lived with the burden of arson accusations, has been vindicated in the disaster that happened on the ship from Oslo to Frederikshavn, Denmark early morning on April 7, 1990, the report said.

Norwegian police initially claimed that the fire was set by a Dane who died in the disaster, but charges against him were dropped in 2014 as no evidence was found.

Three members of the crew had been accused time and again for the accident. Another theory was that the fire was done as part of an insurance scam, all of which have been rejected by the police.

In June 2014, the case was reopened after pressure from the Foundation for New Arson Investigation Scandinavian Star, a support group for survivors and the bereaved.

Experts were engaged in different parts of the investigation led by the police chief Hans Sverre Sjovold and the investigation was directed towards the fire and economic situation.

The ferry first caught fire after midnight on April 7, 1990. The fire was put out by passengers, but 30 minutes later, the ship started to burn again. The incident took 159 lives.

Fire experts Kjell Schmidt Pedersen and Oystein Jaeger Meland, who were also engaged in the investigation in 1990, concluded that the intense heat spread in the steel construction in the ship by the first fire had ignited combustible materials and gases. Endit