Offenbach - Two dead and three seriously injured after house fire
Two people have died and three others have been seriously injured in a fire in a three-storey commercial and residential building in Offenbach city center. The fatalities were a small child and an as yet unidentified person, the fire department announced on Wednesday. The child was initially rescued from the burning house by the emergency services on Tuesday evening, but later died in hospital. The cause of death is to be clarified in an autopsy, according to the police and public prosecutor's office.
The still unknown victim could not be rescued from the flames. "It was so hot that the emergency services had to withdraw," said a fire department spokesperson. "A situation like this is not easy for the emergency services either." The body, which was on one of the upper floors, was to be recovered on Wednesday afternoon. Other residents were reportedly rescued.
There were five people in the house at the time of the fire. The three survivors, a 14-year-old boy and two women aged 40 and 45, were taken to hospital with serious burns and smoke inhalation. Their lives were not in danger.
According to initial findings, more than 30 people were living in the three-storey building, a police spokesman said. A directly adjacent neighboring building was evacuated as a precaution. A large contingent of firefighters, rescue services and police were on site and the fire scene was cordoned off over a wide area. The residents and relatives of the victims were offered psychological support.
All three floors of the house were burnt out. The fire was reported at around 5.30 p.m., and three hours later the fire department had the flames under control. However, the extinguishing work continued until well after midnight. The building was initially in danger of collapsing; according to the police report, it was an "uninhabitable fire ruin". A structural engineer was asked to check when the house could be entered. The damage could not initially be quantified, and the cause and starting point of the flames were still unclear. The police had no evidence of arson. They were hoping for information from witnesses.
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The fire department revealed that the small child, one of the casualties, was initially rescued from the burning house but later passed away in the hospital. The autopsy, conducted by the police and the public prosecutor's office, will determine the cause of the child's death. Despite the efforts of the emergency services, the unidentified victim could not be saved from the intense flames. The incident occurred in Offenbach, a city in the German state of Hesse. The house fire tragically claimed two lives and left three others with serious injuries. The police are appealing for any witness information to help shed light on the cause of the fire.
Source: www.stern.de
