Twelve firefighters and police injured in an explosion in Germany

An explosion in an apartment in Ratingen, in western Germany, injured twelve firefighters and police officers who intervened after the start of the fire on Thursday, local authorities said.

Some of the injured are “seriously, even very seriously”, the region’s interior minister, Herbert Reul, told the press.

The firefighters and police intervened after an alert on the start of a fire and to rescue a person who was asking for help. The explosion occurred when they arrived.

Police special forces arrested the 57-year-old owner of the apartment on the spot, considered a suspect.

In addition, after the arrest, the police discovered a corpse, the identity of which is not yet known, the police also indicated on their Twitter account.

The police were not immediately able to release information on the causes of the explosion.