German police probe fire at former hotel housing Ukrainian refugees

German police are investigating the cause of a fire in a former hotel in north-eastern Germany that was serving as accommodation for refugees from Ukraine.

A police spokesperson said on Thursday that the fire brigade had let the building in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern burn down in a controlled manner after the fire broke out the day before.

According to initial investigations, the fire started on the outside of the house and then spread to the thatched roof and the interior rooms. About 120 firefighters were deployed.

None of the 14 refugees that had been living in the former hotel were injured in the fire.

Investigators suspect a politically motivated act of arson, but experts can not enter the premises until the stability of the ruin is ascertained.

"People who have found shelter from (Russian President Valdimir) Putin's war with us in Germany had to be rescued from the flames," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

"The investigations are ongoing and the background must now be clarified," she added.

On Monday, a swastika daubed in the entrance area was reported to police, but the perpetrator has not yet been found and it has not been established whether the act is linked to the fire.

"I am shocked and angry," said Tino Schmidt, the mayor of the municipality of Blowatz.