Available evidence has ruled out the possibility that it was an accident and pointed toward a planned murder, according to the People’s Procuracy of Lam Dong Province, which cited findings by investigators.

The fire, which gutted part of the villa at number 13 Tran Hung Dao Street in Da Lat on Monday evening, killed five people, including a couple and their two children who lived inside the building.

The fifth victim is the family’s next-door neighbor Tran Van Quoc, 49, whom police have identified as the main suspect in the supposed arson attack.

Security footage showed Quoc carrying a plastic bottle, which likely contained a highly flammable liquid, and a blowtorch before he entered the neighbors’ residence.

Locals reported hearing two small explosions and smoke coming from the villa moments after Quoc had entered the place with the incendiary things.

A damaged blowtorch is retrieved from the remains of an old villa in Da Lat City in Vietnam’s Central Highlands which was partially burnt down in a suspected arson attack on March 12, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Quoc and the villa residents had been involved in unresolved conflicts prior to the suspected arson attack, and both sides had engaged in physical clashes before, according to their neighbors.

The suspect lived alone and reportedly suffered from a severe illness.

“We are waiting for official DNA testing results before reaching a conclusion,” said Vu Van Dien, chief procurator of Lam Dong.

“As the main suspect is dead, the case won’t be brought to court,” he added.

The 457-square-meter villa where the fire broke out is a state property which has been illegally occupied by homeless people and the poor since 1975.

At the time when the incident happened, the building was home to ten different families, who shared the space by building makeshift ‘nests’ from sheets of plywood, a material particularly prone to fire.

Burnt furniture is collected outside an old villa in Da Lat City in Vietnam’s Central Highlands which was partially burnt down in a suspected arson attack on March 12, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A motorcyclist zooms past an old villa in Da Lat City in Vietnam’s Central Highlands which was partially burnt down in a suspected arson attack on March 12, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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