Two killed and dozens injured in hospital fire in northern Germany

A fire tore through part of a hospital in northern Germany early on Thursday, killing at least two people and injuring around 34 others, in one of the country's most serious hospital emergencies in recent years.

The fire

The blaze broke out at a hospital in Ludwigslust, a town in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at about 4:30 a.m. local time, Xinhua reported. It started in the roof structure of the building and sent smoke through the site, prompting an urgent operation to get patients and staff out.

At least two people were killed and around 34 injured, according to CGTN, citing German authorities. Police described the figures as preliminary, and said one of the injured had to be resuscitated. Local reports said dozens of patients were in the building at the time and were moved to safety during the response.

The evacuation

Emergency services evacuated the affected wards, with medical staff and firefighters moving patients — many of them frail or immobile — out of the building using beds, stretchers and wheelchairs. Evacuating a working hospital is especially difficult: patients may be undergoing treatment, dependent on equipment, or unable to move without help, and staff must relocate them while keeping care going.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control, and patients were taken to secure areas and to other facilities. Authorities said the situation remained fluid for some time as they accounted for everyone who had been inside.

Cause under investigation

Officials have not said what caused the fire, which they described as having started under unclear circumstances, and an investigation is under way. As is standard in such cases, investigators are expected to examine the roof area where the fire began, along with the building's fire-safety systems and how the evacuation was carried out.

German authorities had not released a full breakdown of the casualties by Thursday morning, and the toll could change as the investigation continues. Hospital fires are relatively rare in Germany, which has strict building and fire-safety codes, and a fatal blaze at a medical facility is likely to prompt scrutiny of what went wrong.