Finnish church burns down during Christmas service

At Christmas on Sunday, the wooden church in the Finnish village of Rautjärvi in South Karelia was completely destroyed by a fire. At the time, there were about 30 people in the church at the Christmas service. According to Finnish broadcaster Yle, the fire was noticed from the pulpit by chaplain Timo Kälviäinen. He noticed smoke near the main doors.

Although everyone got out safely, that does not seem to be the suspect's plan. The police suspect that someone tied strings to the exit doors of the church and set the church on fire. The fire was discovered early enough to get people out of the church.

Body

Later that morning, rescue services received an alert of another fire 30 kilometres away. There, a detached house and its yard buildings were destroyed on the spot. The body of the man who lived in the house was found in the area of the property.

The police suspect that after setting fire to the church, the man drove to the property and set its buildings on fire. After that, he died. This reports the Finnish broadcaster Yle. The police will not comment on the man's cause of death.

Although the police suspect a connection with the deceased man, they are still investigating the fires. Therefore, they published a picture of the man's clothes on a mannequin.