Misfortune in Siegerland: Police find cause for fat explosion at village festival

In the investigation of the deadly explosion of a huge frying pan in North Rhine-Westphalia, the police have made progress. "We know how this fireball was made, this explosion," said a police spokesman.

Accordingly, it is in the frying pan to a double-walled self-construction with a gap that should allow better heat distribution. The pan had burst. In this case, a hot liquid from the gap - presumably oil - got into the flame under the pan. Similar to a car carburetor ignited this explosive mixture, so the police spokesman.

After the explosion on Sunday at a village festival in Siegerland, a woman had died. The 67-year-old died according to police on Monday morning in a Dortmund clinic her injuries. The condition of the other five critically injured is "unchanged critical to stable".

Why exactly the frying pan failed, which should have worked well for several years, but still has to be determined, so the police spokesman. Thus, a technical defect, an operator error or even a material fatigue come into consideration.

Among other things, the investigators also asked who made the huge pan, which was very professional, years ago. If there were several, it may be to warn of a danger.

Berthold Stamm / dpa

Fat explosion at a village festival in Siegerland: A woman succumbed to her injuries

On Sunday, 14 people were injured in the explosion at a barbecue in Freudenberger district Alchen. The accident had happened during a so-called "Backesfestes", a traditional event.

The critically injured were flown with helicopters in special clinics to the Ruhr area and to Cologne. At the time of the explosion, around one hundred people attended the traditional event in the village of Alchen.