A four-year-old boy and his 70-year-old grandmother died in a fire in an apartment building in Flensburg. The woman was visiting the house, a police spokesman told the German Press Agency on Friday. Of the nine injured, seven are still in hospital. No one was seriously injured in Thursday’s fire.
“There is no evidence of third-party negligence or a xenophobic motive,” the police said. 43 people lived in the building. According to the city, there is a high proportion of people with a migration background on Harrisleer Strasse, where the building is located. The residents of the house were accommodated elsewhere.
There is still no information on the cause of the fire
According to the police, local residents helped rescue the residents by carrying mattresses and a container in front of the house until the emergency services arrived. The people trapped by the fire could have jumped on it.
Schleswig-Holstein’s Interior Minister Sabine Sütterlin-Waack (CDU) visited the site of the tragic event on Friday morning. She spoke of a terrible tragedy. “It is a devastating sight to see this house completely burned out and to imagine how the people suffered inside the house – trapped by the fire.” She also saw the room where the fire may have started just before 5 p.m. on Thursday. “The building is in terrible condition.”
There is still no knowledge of what caused the fire, said Sütterlin-Waack. So far, no one has been able to get into the collapsing house. “That probably won’t happen until early next week.” According to the Flensburgers, this will not be possible until next week at the earliest.
Gaffers filmed videos of the fire
Sütterlin-Waack also commented on incidents during the fire brigade operation, which lasted several hours. “Here, a lot of people have put mattresses in front of the windows so that the people who jumped out of the windows fall a little softer.” In addition to a great deal of helpfulness, some might have hindered the rescue workers a bit.
“There were also gaffers who shot videos and put them online. It’s just terrible,” said Sütterlin-Waack. Investigations would be started against these people because personal rights would be violated. “You have to imagine: people died in the house, there are many seriously injured. And other people make videos of it and enjoy it. That is extremely despicable and will also be prosecuted.”
According to the police, videos of those affected were shared on social networks. “Criminal investigations have been initiated.” An active disability of rescue workers has not yet become known. However, this will continue to be checked.
Flensburg’s Lord Mayor Fabian Geyer was shaken near the scene of the fire on Thursday evening and expressed his deepest condolences to the victims and their families.
