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An apartment building collapsed completely in an explosion in Hemer, Sauerland
Photo: Bjoern Braun / dpa
Several people were injured when a building collapsed after an explosion in Hemer, Sauerland.
In addition, other people would be missing, said a police spokeswoman on Friday evening.
One person was seriously but not fatally injured, three others were slightly injured.
Two people are still under the rubble of the collapsed house.
"We are in contact with the people, we talk to them and try to save them from the rubble," said the spokesman for the Hemer fire brigade, Andreas Schulte, in a post on the news portal "Lokalstimme.de".
Pictures showed that all that was left of the collapsed house was a mountain of rubble.
"Unfortunately, it has collapsed completely, there is not a single stone standing on top of another," Schulte added.
According to the police, the exact cause of the explosion was initially unclear, but it was probably a gas explosion.
The surrounding houses would be evacuated, the police said.
The area around the scene of the accident was cordoned off.
According to Schulte, six people are officially registered as residents in the house, and a total of eight would live there.
It was unclear how many were in the house at the time of the accident.
The rescue measures were therefore difficult, according to the police, an excavator was used to move the debris.
Hemer is located near Iserlohn in the Märkisches Kreis.
jso/dpa