As of: March 25, 2024, 1:50 p.m
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Dramatic major fire in an old building in Solingen: Four people are killed in the flames and several are seriously injured.
Solingen - The infant who went missing after the major fire in an old building in Solingen is dead. This means that four people died in the early morning fire, as a city spokeswoman confirmed.
Nine people were taken to hospitals with serious injuries.
According to the fire department, twelve other people suffered minor injuries, nine of whom were taken to hospitals.
Firefighters stand in front of the apartment building where the fire occurred.
© Gianni Gattus/Blaulicht Solingen/dpa
The fire probably broke out on the first floor of the approximately 100-year-old house with wooden ceilings and a wooden staircase and spread rapidly, said a fire department spokesman.
In the morning, around 120 emergency services had the fire under control, but extinguishing work was still ongoing.
The cause of the fire is still unclear.
Man jumps out of the window with a child in his arms
A firefighter fights the fire in the apartment building from a turntable ladder.
© Gianni Gattus/Blaulicht Solingen/dpa
To escape the flames, a man with a child in his arms and a woman jumped out of the building's windows, the spokesman reported.
One person landed on a car roof even though the fire department had set up a jumping cushion.
Emergency pastors are on duty.
The city had assigned a bus to quickly accommodate uninjured residents, he said.
The advancing firefighters discovered the dead in the attic of the four-story house, the spokesman said.
The house was massively destroyed in the fire and the stairwell partially collapsed.
The fire was reported to the fire department at 2:46 a.m., the spokesman said.
When the fire brigade arrived, the wooden stairwell was “red-hot and fully ablaze,” said the operations manager.
The escape route was “completely burned away”.
dpa