- Two firefighters perish in an apartment blaze in Poland.
In a blaze and explosion at a house in Poland, two emergency responders tragically perished. This unfortunate incident took place in Poznań (Poznań), resulting in 14 other individuals being hurt, among them 11 firefighters, as reported by Deputy Interior Minister Wieslaw Lesniakiewicz. All occupants of the building were successfully evacuated.
The fire ignited in the building's basement on a Saturday, right before midnight. "Soon after, the initial rescue crew arrived. While firefighters were scouting the basement, there was an unexpected blast, or as they described it, two blasts," the deputy chief of the local fire department told the newspaper "Gazeta Wyborcza".
Most of the firefighters then departed the building, but two stayed behind. Communication with the 34-year-old firefighter and his 33-year-old comrade abruptly ceased when a part of the building crumbled. The two were subsequently discovered deceased.
Initially, Deputy Interior Minister stayed mum on the cause of the blast. "Without a doubt, something burst in the basement. We're still investigating if it was a gas cylinder or something else."
This event stirred deep sorrow throughout Poland. "Pay tribute to their memories! They are the genuine heroes of our era," Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote about the two firefighters on X.
President Andrzej Duda also expressed his profound sadness on the platform about the loss of the two rescuers. Across the nation, sirens were to blare in the evening to commemorate the firefighters.
The blast in the basement was likely caused by a ruptured gas cylinder or another source, as yet undetermined. The fire that initiated this chain of events spread fiercely, engulfing parts of the basement.
