According to the rescue service, seven people were injured, one of them seriously. A total of three people were taken to hospital. The Vienna Fire Service rescued several people using a turntable ladder from the smoke-filled building, which is located opposite the Naschmarkt.
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According to fire department spokesman Martin Hofbauer, it was an extensive apartment fire that caused heavy smoke in the stairwell. The alarm was raised shortly after 5 p.m. and the fire-fighting operations took around 40 minutes, the spokesman said. The flames were extinguished using several hoses from different attack points. In the early evening, the professional fire department was still busy with follow-up extinguishing work, safety measures and clarifying the source of the fire.
“Countless reports received”
The operation began with some confusion for the emergency services. “We received countless reports,” Hofbauer told APA. It was not just affected residents who called for help. Passers-by and visitors to the Naschmarkt on the opposite side of the street also made emergency calls and reported the fire. The police cordoned off a large area, said police spokeswoman Barbara Gass.
Neighbours heard a “loud bang”
What caused the fire was still unclear in the early evening. Several media reported on statements from witnesses who had heard an explosion. “It was a loud bang. The detonation was felt all over the body and in the chest. Everyone else in the yard immediately looked out of the window but saw nothing,” the “Kronen Zeitung” quoted a neighbor who lives two houses away as saying. The fire department cannot yet say whether an explosion actually took place and started the fire, Hofbauer told APA.
According to the spokesman, the professional fire brigade escorted one person outside, and two others were rescued via turntable ladder. “Most people had already been able to leave the building by the time we arrived,” reported Hofbauer. According to spokesman Andreas Huber, the professional rescue service cared for seven people, three of whom – two men and one woman – were taken to hospital. Among them was the resident of the apartment on the upper floor facing the courtyard, which was completely gutted by fire. She and one of the two men escaped with minor injuries.
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According to Huber, the seriously injured man, a man in his mid-20s and, according to this information, a worker, was also apparently in this apartment when the fire broke out. The man suffered burns and inhaled smoke. The other four people, who were cared for by the professional rescue service, which was dispatched with the special task force and several ambulances, were able to be treated on the spot.
The apartment building in question at Linke Wienzeile 12-14 was built in 1888 by Ludwig Zatzka. It is actually two independent twin houses with their own entrances. Until it closed a few years ago, the “Gräfin vom Naschmarkt” restaurant was established in part of the building on the ground floor.
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