Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said in a statement on Sunday that PJ officers were notified by the Fire Services Bureau (CB) at 5:22 p.m. on that day of suspected arson on the grassy slope located inside a substation belonging to power utility CEM on Travessa dos Artilheiros.
According to the statement, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, a member of the public reported to the police that he or she had seen a man entering the unlocked substation and approaching a beehive that had fallen under a tree. The man then set fire to the newspaper that he had with him in an attempt to smoke the bees out of the hive.
The statement pointed out that the man “accidentally” set fire to the leaves on the ground and weeds, but then immediately put out the fire himself.
The statement noted that the suspect, surnamed Lei, is a 67-year-old local resident.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they saw that a grassy area of about 1.5 metres by two metres in the substation had been burnt, according to the statement.The statement said that no one was injured or required hospitalisation.
A CEM staff member told the police that the loss caused by the incident was not known, but the company has decided to take legal action, the statement noted.
