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NEED TO KNOW
- Three people are dead and dozens are injured following a hospital fire in Hamburg, Germany, on June 1
- First responders made their way to Marienkrankenhaus, or St. Mary’s Hospital, shortly after midnight after a fire broke out within the hospital’s geriatric ward
- Of those hurt in the blaze, one was critically injured, 18 were seriously injured and another 15 were slightly injured, per a statement from the local fire department
Three people were killed and dozens more were injured following a fire that broke out in a German hospital’s geriatric ward.
Shortly after midnight on Sunday, June 1, firefighters in Hamburg responded to a blaze at Marienkrankenhaus, which can be translated to St. Mary’s Hospital or Marien Hospital, after it broke out inside a room of the hospital, according to the Associated Press, The New York Times and a translated statement from the fire department.
The victims were men aged 84, 85 and 87, per the AP, which cites a police statement. Additionally, one person was critically injured, 18 were seriously injured and 15 were slightly injured, per the fire department’s statement.
Bodo Marks/picture alliance via Getty
One patient’s room on the hospital’s ground floor was already fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at the scene, according to the statement, while several people in the rooms above were unable to leave and called for help from their windows.
The fire department rescued multiple people with ladders as emergency services administered first aid to some — with a few treated in the hospital’s in-house emergency room.
Roughly 220 emergency workers were dispatched to the scene, per the fire department’s statement, and they remained there until the early morning.
Lorenz Hartmann, a spokesperson for the fire department in Hamburg, said that “flames had spread to the upper floor” around the time emergency services arrived, per the AP.
As the AP also reported, firefighters extinguished the blaze in about 20 minutes. It was not immediately clear what started the fire.
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FABIAN HOEFIG/NEWS5/AFP via Getty
The Hamburg hospital treats more than 90,000 patients annually, according to its website.
Footage from the scene, shared by the AP, showed first responders running toward the blaze while leading the way for firetrucks. Upon their arrival, firefighters could be seen holding ladders and assisting elderly patients as they made their way down from upper floors during evacuation.
At one point, first responders administered a protective mask to one patient, per the footage, while nurses assisted other patients outside.
