Georg Maier (SPD), Minister of the Interior of Thuringia, sits in the plenary hall of the Thuringian state parliament. © Martin Schutt/dpa/Archivbild
After a fire in a refugee shelter in Apolda with one fatality and some injured, Thuringian politicians have expressed dismay. "The cause of the fire must now be clarified quickly. The criminal investigation department is investigating at full speed," said Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD), according to a statement from his spokesman on Sunday. He expressed his condolences to the relatives.
Apolda - 70 police officers were deployed in Apolda on site and in the evacuation and investigations into the cause of the fire, Maier also wrote on Twitter.
Since the fire, a nine-year-old boy has been missing, police said. Whether the dead person found was the missing boy could only be determined with final certainty after a forensic medical examination. Previously, MDR Thuringia and "Bild" (online) had reported, citing Mayor Rüdiger Eisenbrand (non-party), that the victim was a child. Ten people were injured, according to police.
"My thoughts are with the family and in the grief! A speedy recovery to all those injured," wrote Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left) on Twitter on Sunday.
Thuringia's Commissioner for Integration, Migration and Refugees, Mirjam Kruppa, also reacted with dismay and expressed her condolences and sympathy to the relatives and those affected. About the residents, who are now no longer accommodated in the destroyed building, she said, according to a message: "These people have already lost everything and have come to Thuringia to find protection and safety. I am infinitely sorry that they have now had to go through loss, injuries and existential fear again." dpa
