The two people who jumped from the 12th floor and died in a high-rise building fire in Berlin-Kreuzberg on Friday are a man and a woman. This was confirmed by the Berlin police. The cause of the fire is still unclear and is part of the investigation.
The two jumped from the twelfth floor of a 15-story building on Friday afternoon to escape the fire in their apartment. Despite resuscitation, they died on the spot, as a fire department spokesman said. Although the fire brigade prepared a safety cushion and a turntable ladder on site, the two probably had no chance. The safety cushion is designed for a maximum of 16 meters, but the twelfth floor means a height of more than 30 meters, said the fire department spokesman.
Wrongly parked cars would have delayed the extension of a turntable ladder, he added. However, even the turntable ladder is not sufficient for this height. “In a high-rise building, the escape route is inside,” said the spokesman. Ordinarily, one would not try to rescue someone from that height from the outside.
