Image: APA/dpa/David Young
Several people were injured in an explosion in an apartment in a high-rise building in Ratingen near Düsseldorf. According to preliminary findings, ten firefighters and two police officers were injured, some very seriously, said North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul yesterday.
Special forces had stormed the apartment and arrested a 60-year-old man, said a police spokeswoman. The man is injured. It is currently not possible to say whether he was injured in the explosion or during the arrest. After the arrest, a body was found in the apartment. Minister Reul could not say anything about the identity yesterday. It is not yet clear whether it was a targeted attack.
The situation was still unclear hours after the explosion, special forces and snipers were on site. Banging noises could be heard again and again. The scene was cordoned off over a wide area. According to the police, the explosion occurred around 11:15 a.m. on Thursday. Reul reported that around 10 a.m. the homeowners’ association informed the police that a resident’s mailbox was overflowing.
The police then called in the fire brigade to open the apartment door. A mother lives in the apartment with her son. There was fire in the room. The son triggered a detonation with an object that has not yet been identified.
“There are extremely dangerous developments to be feared,” said Reul. Research on social media had shown that the man “was mentally in the corona denier environment”.
Source: Nachrichten
