After an explosion and fire in an apartment building in Essen, there may still be people in the building. Since the structural structure of the two-story house was destroyed, the emergency services cannot yet enter the building, said a fire department spokesman. It cannot be ruled out that there are still people inside. According to police, five residents were reported to be living in the house.
“You cannot survive the violence that took place here,” said the spokesman. The fire brigade has so far only been able to see the inside of the house from the outside. In addition, the fire has not yet been extinguished. The rubble from walls and ceilings inside the building is up to 60 meters high.
According to initial findings, three people were injured in an incident in the apartment building on Saturday evening. A woman jumped out of the window to save herself, said a fire department spokesman. When the fire department arrived, she was lying on the street with serious injuries. She was taken to hospital with burns.
Two residents from the neighboring house were initially treated on site by the emergency services and were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Three other people were also treated by emergency services but were uninjured.
“The street is like a field of rubble, everything is full of rubble and broken glass,” said the fire department spokesman. The cause of the explosion in the Steele district is still unclear. According to initial findings, the incident happened in an apartment on the ground floor. From there, the fire immediately spread to the remaining apartments in the building. The house and a neighboring building were damaged.
