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House in Bochum completely collapsed after an explosion – one dead
Rescuers are looking for survivors in the completely collapsed house in Bochum
© Action Press
A residential building in Bochum collapsed completely on Tuesday evening. A woman died. The cause of the accident in the Linden district was initially unclear.
First there was a loud bang, then a residential building in Bochum collapsed completely late Tuesday evening. A woman was killed. After searching for several hours, rescuers found them in the rubble. The body is believed to be the 61-year-old homeowner who was missing, a police spokesman said early Wednesday morning. More details will only be clear when the dead person has been recovered and clearly identified.
The apartment building was located in the district of Linden. Photos showed the extent of the destruction: where the two-and-a-half-storey building stood, only a pile of rubble could be seen after the accident. The road was littered with stones. A short time later, numerous neighbors called 911 and reported a loud bang.
Aside from the owner, two other people lived in the house, police said. One of them, a 35-year-old man, was able to free himself from the rubble and was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. The third was not at home.
Bochum: The cause of the explosion is initially unclear
Other people are no longer suspected under the rubble, said fire brigade operations manager Simon Heussen on Wednesday morning. Rescue dogs would have struck in several places. These places were checked without result. The recovery of the corpse and the clean-up work could last until the morning. The fire brigade, rescue service, rescue dog squadrons and technical relief organization (THW) were at the scene of the accident with 160 emergency services.
The cause of the alleged explosion was initially unclear. According to the Stadtwerke, the building had no gas connection, Heußen said. Nevertheless, gas was measured in the canal and in nearby buildings. It is therefore assumed that there was a gas leak there.
Heussen had previously described the situation as dramatic in a video on Twitter. There were therefore two dangers for the rescue workers: On the one hand, the debris was very unstable, there was a further danger of collapse. Therefore, one could not enter the site at first. In addition, gas was still detectable during the operation. The public utilities were therefore on site with excavators to close the valves of the gas lines in the streets.
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