Dozens of firefighters, police officers injured in residential blast in Germany

By Sarah Roebuck
FireRescue1 

BERLIN — A suspect has been detained in connection with an explosion at a residential building in the German city of Ratingen that injured dozens of first responders, the Associated Press reports. 

Two officers and three firefighters received life-threatening injuries in the blast. Four firefighters were seriously injured and 22 police officers suffered minor injuries, according to police. 

A woman's body was recovered from the building, police said. Her identity and the cause of her death weren't immediately known.

Firefighters and officers were first called to the high-rise building regarding the possibility of a person in distress inside a 10th-floor apartment. 

A blast occurred shortly after the suspect opened the apartment door, police said. The suspect then started a fire which prevented police from getting inside the unit. 

Hours after the blast, a 57-year-old man was detained on suspicion of homicide, police said. 

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, the Associated Press reports.