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Firefighters in front of a destroyed house in Hemer
Photo: Bjoern Braun / dpa
An explosion completely destroyed an apartment building in Hemer, Sauerland, on Friday evening.
A woman could only be rescued dead from the rubble at 8.50 a.m. in the morning, the police said.
Several injured people had already been freed beforehand, some of them seriously injured.
Hemer is a town with 34,000 inhabitants in the Märkisches Kreis in Sauerland.
It is the eastern neighboring town of Iserlohn.
"According to the current state of investigation, we assume that there are no more people under the rubble," said fire department spokesman Andreas Schulte.
Before the body could be recovered on Saturday morning, a seriously injured man and woman were rescued around 3:00 a.m. and 3:45 a.m.
Both were in mortal danger and had been taken to the hospital, Schulte said.
"First of all, we're glad that we were able to save two people," said the fire department spokesman.
The scene of the accident has now been handed over to the criminal police for further investigation.
“We continue to provide support with our staff,” said Schulte.
The police and fire brigade are assuming a gas explosion.
The exact cause was initially unclear.
Aerial photos show a debris field where an apartment building previously stood.
The house is said to have been a six-party house with eight residents.
Three of the eight residents of the house were probably not at home at the time of the collapse, police said.
The task for the fire brigade was to advance cautiously but also quickly to the buried victims.
"We worked our way very carefully so that we could speak to them and touch them," said Schulte.
"Partly upside down," he added.
"It was tedious work."
Two injured people had already been recovered on Friday evening.
One of the victims was hospitalized with serious injuries but not life-threatening.
According to the fire department spokesman, the man was lying high up on the rubble mountain.
The other person was reportedly only slightly injured.
In the late morning, NRW Minister of the Interior Herbert Reul (CDU), as well as the District Administrator of the Märkisches Kreis, Marco Voge (CDU), and Hemer's Mayor Christian Schweitzer (CDU) were expected at the scene of the accident in Hemer to get an impression on the spot and the to thank more than 300 rescue workers from the fire brigade, police, THW and Red Cross.
"More than 300 rescue workers have given their all so far and deserve our greatest recognition," Mayor Schweitzer wrote on his Facebook page.
fdi/dpa