At Least 14 Dead in Fire and Explosion in Germany

[cessna152towser]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20494988

At least 14 people have died and "a large number" injured in a major fire at a workshop for disabled people in south-western Germany, reports say.

Firefighters fought to rescue people and extinguish the blaze at the centre run by the Caritas charity in Titisee-Neustadt, in the Black Forest.

The workshop is believed to have employed about 120 disabled people.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, but local media reports that there may have been an explosion in a store room.

The centre is used for woodwork and metalwork, for which highly-flammable materials and liquids are often used.
'Devastating'

The blaze occurred at about 14:00 local time (13:00 GMT) in the two-storey modern building, located some 40km (25 miles) east of the city of Freiburg.

The entire building was in flames, local TV reported, and smoke was still billowing out more than an hour after the fire started.

About 50 people are reckoned to have been in the building at the time.

Firefighters wore breathing apparatus as they tried to reach those who were trapped inside.

"We can tell you that we have 14 dead. The process of identification is ongoing," local police spokesman Karl-Heinz Schmid told rolling news channel N24.

"We also have a large number of injured who have been taken to hospital."

The centre is run by the Catholic Church's aid organisation Caritas, and the town's mayor Armin Hinterseh said the buildings were quite new.

"It is devastating. We now have to find out how it happened," Mr Hinterseh told the local daily Badische Zeitung.

Thoughts and prayers for the families of the dead and injured.

[KiltedDixon]

Prayer sent...what a terrible tragedy.

[New World Czech]

Yes, very terrible. My prayers are with them. This means much to me as my daughter Michelle just returned from two years at a L'Arche community in Ireland. She lived with and cared for the disable residents and worked with them at a similar workshop facility. I hope this community can rebound quickly.

[Piipriker]

thank you for your condolences, it is really devastating what happened.

The reason for the fire was a deflagration from a propane gas heater in a store room. All victims were in the store room at that time. The victims are 13 disabled people aged 28 to 68 and a supervisor, a 50 years old woman. They died of smoke poisoning.

The other 8 injured persons (one of them a fire fighter) are out of lives danger. Of the 120 persons in the building only 11 had to be rescued by the fire department, the others came out by themselves.

The reason for the deflagration and why the fire fire spread so rapidly is still unclear.

[TurboKittie]

Adding my thoughts for the families of the dead and injured.

This hits close to home for me because not only is my daughter very artistic, but she's also intellectual disabled and completely non-verbal from her autism.