Two teens arrested in connection with London mosque fire

British police have arrested two teenagers on suspicion of arson after a fire damaged one of Europe’s biggest mosques. JACK TAYLOR/AFP/Getty Images A 14-year-old and a 16-year-old were detained in relation to the blaze Sunday. An administration building was badly damaged but not the mosque, London Fire Brigade said.

One man believed to have been in his 40s was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation but others attending the mosque were unhurt.

Station manager Philip Morton said: “This was a large fire and our crews worked hard in difficult conditions to confine it to the administrative buildings on the site and thanks to their efforts the mosque itself escaped completely unscathed”.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said that enquiries were continuing, but there was no evidence at this stage to suggest that it was a hate crime.

The building was completed in 2003 and is estimated to have cost £5.5m ($8.4m)to build and the mosque can accommodate 10,500 worshippers. “The fire was contained to the hall at the front of the building and some adjacent offices”, Rafiq Hayat, national president of the Ahmadiya Muslim community, said.

“We’re grateful to the emergency services and hoping they get to the bottom of this soon”. Anyone with information can contact police via 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.