An inferno that raged through a mathematics and computer center last week has set back research and paralyzed communications at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. No one was hurt, but the 20 November fire caused up to $50 million in damage. Police have arrested a 26-year-old university employee after he allegedly tried to set another academic building ablaze 2 days later. Police say the man has confessed to the first fire but did not reveal his motives.
A university spokesperson says most of the files stored on the computers can probably be recovered from backups, but some scientists have lost “years of work” in paper files and other nonretrievable information.
--MARTIN ENSERINK
Related site
News about the fire from the University of Twente
