Major alarm in Berlin-Kreuzberg: three patients and a nurse were seriously injured in a fire in a clinic. Among the patients is a woman who was stuck in an elevator at the time of the fire and suffered life-threatening injuries, the fire department said on Monday night. According to this, a total of around 40 people were taken care of, some were classified as slightly injured, and smoke poisoning was suspected in several cases. In addition, two firefighters were slightly injured during their operation, the fire department said.
Around 100 emergency services were at the scene of the fire in Kreuzberg during the night. According to a fire department spokesman, the fire appears to have started with burning hospital beds in the hallway. It was initially unclear how these could catch fire. According to the police, a suspicious man was arrested and intentional arson cannot be ruled out. The smoke spread over eight floors of the clinic building, and the rescue center was evacuated. The flames were eventually extinguished.
The fire surprised people at the clinic in the middle of the night. “We had to evacuate the entire rescue center,” said a spokesman for the Berlin fire department on Monday night. “It’s lucky that we were able to save the woman from the elevator and that there weren’t more serious injuries.”
According to its website, the Vivantes Klinikum Am Urban has 12 medical departments, a central emergency room and 614 beds. Around 65,000 patients are treated there every year. A total of around 300 doctors and 605 nurses look after the well-being of the patients.
