A driving instructor in his sixties was arrested late last month for causing a fire in late April by carelessly discarding a lit cigarette end at the driving school in Cotai, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said during a regular press conference on Friday.
The suspect is a 62-year-old local man surnamed Mou.
On April 27, the Judiciary Police were notified by the Fire Services Bureau (CB) regarding a fire in the heavy vehicle parking area of the driving examination centre and driving school in Cotai. Cardboard and other items in the bed of a lorry had caught fire. The blaze was extinguished with water by staff on-site before firefighters arrived.
Following an investigation, PJ officers concluded that the fire had been caused by someone carelessly throwing away a lit cigarette end.
The police identified Mou as the suspect and summoned him for questioning on May 28.
On the day of the fire, Mou was smoking beside the lorry while waiting for a student, after which he casually tossed the lit cigarette end into the lorry bed. Shortly afterwards, another driving instructor standing some distance away noticed smoke and flames coming from the vehicle. This instructor rushed over and, together with Mou, put the fire out with buckets of water. They then called the emergency services, after which firefighters arrived at the scene.
The suspect has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further questioning, the spokesperson said.
