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CatastropheGermany

Germany: Firefighters rescue 2 following explosion at house

July 9, 2022

Rescue workers have pulled several people from the rubble after a large explosion at a residential building in the town of Hemer. At least one person has been killed.

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Rubble following the explosion in Hemer
Police are investigating the cause of the blastImage: Christoph Reichwein/TNN/picture alliance/dpa

German police in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia rescued two people from the rubble overnight after an explosion brought down a large residential house divided into apartments in the town of Hemer, police said on Saturday.

A man and woman were rescued from the rubble. Local fire department spokesman Andreas Schulte said that they were in "acute danger" as a result of their injuries.

Another woman was pulled from the rubble later on Saturday morning, who rescuers had been in contact with, but she had already died by the time she was reached.

Emergency services arrived on the scene on Friday evening where they were able to treat three people who had received light injuries from the explosion. Another person appeared to have pulled themselves out of the debris, according to public broadcaster WDR, and was taken to hospital.

Emergency services using heavy machinery to clear the wreckage
The large impact of the blast impeded the rescue effortsImage: Bjoern Braun/dpa/picture alliance

At a press conference on Saturday morning, Schulte said that "based on where we are now with the investigation, we're assuming that there are no other people under the rubble."

"We're happy for now that we were able to rescue two people," he added.

The interior minister for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, also made his way to the scene to the scene of the explosion on Saturday morning, WDR reported.

Challenging rescue

The cause of the explosion, which leveled the building, remains unknown. Authorities are investigating but said that it appeared possible that it was the result of a gas leak.

"I've seen buildings after gas blasts before, but I've never seen such utter destruction," Schulte said.

The Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) was deployed to the scene to help with the removal of debris.

"Our challenge is to remove pieces of debris from above," fire department spokesman Schulte told WDR. "This is proving difficult due to the size of the debris and the difficult access."

Schulte said the whereabouts of all the building's residents had been accounted for, but that it was still possible that people the fire department were unaware of — possibly visitors — might be in the rubble.

Authorities cordoned off the area and evacuated the nearby buildings, some of which were also damaged in the explosion. 

ab/msh (dpa, AFP)