In Hamelin, Lower Saxony, an apartment building catches fire. Some residents can get to safety via their balcony. However, there are also serious injuries. Any help comes too late for a child.
A child died in a fire in an apartment building in Hamelin in Lower Saxony. Four other children were injured, some seriously, according to the fire department. Five rescue helicopters brought the children and an adult to clinics, as the operations manager of the Hamelin fire brigade, Michael Wömpener, said. They suffered burns and smoke inhalation.
According to the police, the children were between almost a year and six years old. All were initially taken to the hospital. One of the children died there from his serious injuries. How old it was is not yet known. Officials said the ages of the adults were 23 and 27. The cause of the fire is also not known at this time.
Already on the way, the firefighters saw massive smoke rising from an apartment in the apartment building, said the operations manager. Some residents stood at the window, whereupon first responders tried to rescue them from the house with a ladder. Some of the residents of the house near downtown Hamelin were brought out of the house with the help of the fire department. According to the emergency services, the two adults handed some children from the balcony and out of a window out of the house.
The fire brigade was on site with around 70 emergency services. The extinguishing work was completed in the afternoon. A spokeswoman for the Hameln-Pyrmont police inspection said the fire site had been confiscated. Officials are still gathering information about the fire.
