After the fire with two dead firefighters in Sankt Augustin near Bonn, investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing. According to the police on Monday morning, further background information can be expected during the day. The fire in the motorcycle shop broke out on Sunday afternoon for reasons that are still unclear.
According to the city, the two victims are a man and a woman from the volunteer fire department. They were initially considered missing on Sunday. The city finally said early Monday morning that there was the sad certainty that the two were dead. “This tragic event shocks and stuns us all,” Mayor Max Leitterstorf said after the bodies were found. “First and foremost, our thoughts and sympathy are with the families and relatives of the two as well as their comrades from the Sankt Augustin volunteer fire brigade,” it said. The city will never forget the two members of the fire brigade.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) also expressed his sympathy on Twitter. “It is with deep sadness that we commemorate the courageous firefighters who lost their lives in a mission in Sankt Augustin today.” Your selfless commitment deserves the greatest respect, he continued. His condolences go to the bereaved.
The German Fire Brigade Association was also affected. “We are shaken!” Wrote association president Karl-Heinz Banse on Twitter. His thoughts are with the families of the deceased.
More than 200 emergency services were on site to extinguish the fire in the motorcycle shop with an adjacent workshop. Eleven of them were injured, five of the injured were taken to hospitals. The injuries also had something to do with the great heat on Sunday. The cause of fire was unclear for the moment.
After the incident, the entire volunteer fire department in Sankt Augustin was decommissioned, said Mayor Leitterstorf. Firefighters from other municipalities would have taken over the extinguishing work. According to the police on Monday, these have now been completed. However, the clearance work continued for several days, said a police spokesman. According to the city, there will still be traffic disruptions in the city center of the Niederpleis district on Monday. A kindergarten will also remain closed.
