Police have arrested a 72-year-old patient after the Marienkrankenhaus hospital in Hamburg, Germany was gripped by a devastating fire, leaving three people dead and many more injured
Hamburg: Three patients killed in hospital fire
Three patients have died and dozens more left injured after a horror inferno tore through a hospital.
Victims were left desperately screaming out of the windows for help as the Marienkrankenhaus hospital in Hamburg, Germany went up in flames last night. Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the hospital shortly after midnight after it broke out in a room in the elderly ward on the ground floor of the building. The fire then ignited the façade, before spreading across all four floors. The three people who died were men aged 84, 85 and 87, police said in a statement. Another 34 people were injured, with one confirmed this morning to be in a life-threatening condition.
Another patient, aged 72, was detained on suspicion of starting the blaze.
Many of the injured patients were treated at the hospital itself, though two were taken to nearby clinics. A total of 220 firefighters were sent to the scene, with the blaze extinguished within about 20 minutes.
Footage from the scene shows firefighters hosing down the charred remains of the ground floor by torchlight, while ambulance crews take out multiple people on stretchers.
Other patients are led away from the scene on foot as they are covered in blankets for warmth. Firefighters said they found several patients at the windows calling for help, and telling them that they could not escape their rooms after smoke blocked the exits. People were rescued using ladders and through the building itself.
Many of those trapped were elderly and had mobility issues, adding to the complex rescue effort.
Later today, police said witness interviews suggested that a 72-year-old patient may have set the fire. He was detained at the hospital on suspicion of arson.
A statement from Polizei Hamburg said: “In the course of collecting witness examination, there were signs that a 72-year-old patient could be a strong suspect of the fire.”
Investigators are looking into whether mental illness was a factor, they added.
The Catholic hospital’s managing director, Christoph Schmitz, said he had taken “immediate measures to prevent further danger” to patients. He added that the hospital would fully co-operate with authorities in their enquiries.
The incident carries echoes of a similar hospital fire a few miles away in the town of Uelzen last year, in which five people died.
Firefighters and police, some using ladders, rescued several patients from their rooms after the blaze took hold late in the evening on January 4, 2024.
Six people were seriously injured and 16 others had lesser injuries, having suffered smoke inhalation and burns.