Dramatic pictures in the Sauerland: after an explosion, a huge mountain of rubble piles up where a block of flats stood just a few hours ago. Several residents survive the accident, rescue workers try to free more people from the rubble.
Several people were injured when a building collapsed after an explosion in Hemer, Sauerland. A police spokeswoman said other people were also missing. One person was seriously but not fatally injured, three others were slightly injured. Two people are still under the rubble of the collapsed house.
"We are in contact with the people, we talk to them and try to save them from the rubble," said the spokesman for the Hemer fire brigade, Andreas Schulte, in a post on the news portal "Lokalstimme.de". Pictures show that all that is left of the collapsed house is a mountain of rubble. "Unfortunately, it collapsed completely, there is no stone left standing on top of another," added Schulte.
According to the police, the exact cause of the explosion is still unclear, but it was probably a gas explosion. The surrounding houses would be evacuated, the police said. The area around the scene of the accident was cordoned off. According to Schulte, six people are officially registered as residents in the house, and a total of eight would live there. It is not known how many were in the house at the time of the accident. The rescue measures are difficult, according to the police, an excavator was used to move the debris. Hemer has a good 37,000 inhabitants and is located near Iserlohn in the Märkisches Kreis.
