Karlstua kindergarten at Haugerud in Oslo was destroyed in a fire on Saturday evening. The police believe the fire may have been arson, as some young people were seen at the scene just before.

The fire took place at Haugerud, east of Oslo. The subway’s Line 2 was closed for a period between Hellerud and Ellingsrudåse as a result of the fire, which was reported to the emergency services at 19.22.

Six hours later, the kindergarten, which is run by Oslo municipality and has room for 45 children, was still burning.

We have control, I would say, even though it is still burning, but the smoke has subsided. The building will probably be completely damaged, if not by the fire, then by water damage. But we think it will stand, watch commander Tor Audunhus of the Oslo Fire and Rescue Service tells NTB on the night of Sunday.

He says that there was a fire in the roof structure and the attic of the building, which had made extinguishing work difficult.

We will continue the work here until Sunday morning, says the watch commander.

Police incident leader Arve Røtterud at the scene said on Saturday evening that one of the hypotheses they are working with is that the fire may have been arson.

I don’t want to say right here and now that the fire was set, but we have information that there might have been a number of young people nearby who were observed on the subway side of the building fifteen minutes before the fire. That is one of the hypotheses we are working with, says the task leader.

The police are reviewing surveillance images from nearby buildings to find possible suspects in the case. No one was in the nursery when the fire started, and no injuries have been reported.

Haugerud is one of the city’s most densely populated areas, and is among the parts of the capital where the emergency services are most often visited.