London Police Arrest Three Suspects in Connection With Sony Warehouse Fire

As PopCrush recently reported, a warehouse owned by Sony DADC was completely ravaged by a fire amidst the violent riots in London and surrounding areas in the UK. According to London 24, police have arrested three teenagers -- two 17-year-olds and one 18-year-old -- in connection with the devastating blaze.

The three teenagers were charged with arson and violent disorder. One of the 17-year-old suspects was bailed out, but the other two are still being held by police. The fire, which was set on Tuesday, Aug. 9, has caused detrimental consequences for more than 150 independent record labels, including Beggars (who lost 750,000 CDs in the blaze) and XL Recordings, which is home to songstress Adele.

The warehouse was the main headquarters for PIAS, which handles distribution for the 150+ indie labels whose stock was housed in the building.

"Sony DADC have actioned their Business Continuity Plan and are back up and running from a new control room in Enfield. PIAS continue to work with them to minimise the impact on the business, a number one priority for all labels and clients," PIAS said in a official statement. "Sony DADC have identified a temporary distribution partner and it is envisaged that they will be in a position to pick, pack and ship orders in the course of next week."

The Association of Independent Music has called the fire "a disaster for the music community," and they are urging indie music fans to help keep the labels afloat.

"What music fans can do to show their support for the indie label community, and help them survive this disaster is to buy a digital download of an album from any one of the digital retailers in the UK, as well as going to their local record store while stocks last," said AIM chairmen, Alison Wenham. "This way, the labels will be able to remanufacture their CDs and vinyl more quickly, to resupply the record shops which are also affected by the riots."