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Germany: Suspect arrested after blast at high-rise building

Published May 11, 2023last updated May 11, 2023

Over 20 police officers and several firefighters were injured in a blast at an apartment tower in Ratingen. Authorities have detained one suspect and recovered a body from the flat.

https://p.dw.com/p/4RCxq
Emergency crews, some with specialist breathing equipment, gather on a street near the site of the explosion. Ratingen, western Germany, May 11, 2023.
Rescue crews in specialist gear were trying to secure the building and ascertain the cause for the explosionImage: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa/picture alliance

German police have detained a suspect in connection with an explosion at a residential building that injured dozens of first responders on Thursday.

Before the blast, police had been called to the building to assist a person supposedly in distress. When emergency services and police arrived at the suspect's apartment, a blast went off as they opened the door.

The authorities are currently looking into what triggered the explosion.

"Further investigations must show whether it is attempted manslaughter or attempted murder and in how many cases," Dusseldorf public prosecutors said.

Police later stormed the apartment, arrested the man thought to have made the emergency call, and found the body of a dead woman inside.

The incident took place in the western German city of Ratingen, located outside of Düsseldorf.

Man arrested with injuries

A police spokeswoman at the scene said the suspect was a 57-year-old man, who was living in the flat from which the explosion came.

He was injured, but the spokeswoman she said she could not comment on whether his injuries were sustained before or during his arrest.

Police also did not provide details on the identity of the dead woman found inside the apartment and the circumstances of her death.

Two officers and three firefighters sustained life-threatening injuries in the blast. Four firefighters were seriously injured and 22 police officers suffered minor injuries, police said.

Reports of gunshots, sharpshooters deployed

The explosion took place at around 11:15 a.m. local time (0915 UTC/GMT). 

Initial dispatches from reporters and photographers in the region pointed to a major police mobilization with multiple rescue helicopters and specialist teams on site. 

 A DPA reporter said sharpshooters had deployed on rooftops. A large area around the site was cordoned off.

The DPA correspondent also reported hearing multiple noises akin to gunshots during the later emergency services operations.

Ratingen is a large town in western Germany with a population of around 85,000, not far from NRW's state capital Düsseldorf.

lo,rs,dj/msh(AFP, dpa)