Overview
- A fire broke out on the 11th floor of a 21-storey block in Friedrichshain early Friday morning, spread upward to the floor above, and led crews to evacuate more than 110 residents.
- Footage and fire-service statements show a woman perched on an 11th-floor ledge about 35 metres up who jumped and was caught in a roughly 1.5-metre-wide rescue basket after the aerial lift could only reach the ninth floor.
- Reports differ on injuries: Metro cited about 13 people hurt with five taken to hospital while other accounts put the total at at least five injured; officials are still finalising casualty and damage figures.
- Firefighters also tackled a simultaneous blaze in a 10-storey block in Reinickendorf that began on the fifth floor, left six flats uninhabitable and sent one person to hospital.
- The main Friedrichshain fire was brought under control in under three hours, the cause remains unconfirmed, and the rescue has raised questions about ladder reach and building habitability checks for displaced residents.