Firefighters in the German city of Dortmund have ordered the evacuation of a high-rise apartment building for "fire safety reasons." The evacuation of the complex's 800 inhabitants was described as "unavoidable."
A 2010 picture of the "Hannibal" apartment block in DortmundImage: imago stock&people
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Dortmund's fire department said on Thursday that a large apartment complex needed to be evacuated immediately for "unavoidable" security reasons.
The evacuation was ordered due to "irrefutable fire safety reasons" in order to "protect the lives of residents," the city said in a statement.
In a press conference later on Thursday, city officials said fire safety measures in the building, referred to as "Hannibal 2," were significantly lacking. Authorities cited "a lack of fire safety in the underground parking garage" and "no emergency escape routes" as reasons for the evacuation.
City officials told reporters around 800 tenants in 450 apartments need to leave the large apartment complex on Thursday. They added that it was uncertain when the residents would be allowed to return to their apartments.
A reporter with DPA news agency saw around 100 residents standing outside the building, waiting for further instructions as to where they will be spending the night. Local daily newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten said the evacuation would begin in the evening and that the city will be sending the bill for the large evacuation to the building's owner.
Intown, the company that owns the "Hannibal 2" complex, also owns an apartment complex in the German city of Wuppertal that had to be evacuated in June for a lack of fire protection measures, reported DPA. Over 80 apartments in that building were evacuated. Residents were allowed to return to their homes a month later after flammable fake facades on the staircases and on the corridor walls were removed.
In June, a massive fire at the Grenfell Tower apartment complex in London claimed at least 81 lives. One focus of the investigation is the role of combustible aluminum cladding that was recently installed during a renovation of the tower block.
rs/sms (AFP, AP, dpa)
On June 14, 2017, the 24-storey Grenfell Tower apartment building in West London went up in flames. Hundreds of people were left homeless, dozens were injured and at least 80 killed.
Image: Picture alliance/AP Photo/F. Augstein
Billowing smoke
It took more than 24 hours for firefighters to control the fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower shortly after midnight on June 14. Most of the residential building, built in the 1970s, was damaged, the homes destroyed.
Image: Toby Melville/REUTERS
Ruins of a tower
Police and fire services say the fire may have started accidentally in a fridge-freezer on the fourth floor. The rapid growth of the blaze was likely accelerated by the building's exterior cladding, plastic foam between sheets of aluminum foil.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/PA/Wire/R. Findler
Gutted buillding
A few days after the blaze, British police released photos of charred apartments and, above, the Grenfell Tower lifts. The conditions due to the fire damage "verge on indescribable," they said.
Image: Reuters
Missing
Survivors, friends and families resorted to social media in the hope of finding missing loved ones and posted handwritten and printed posters and signs taped to buildings near the site of the fire.
Image: Reuters/P. Hackett
Respect for victims
London observed a minute of silence on June 19 to commemorate the victims - killed and injured - of the devastating fire that London Mayor Sadiq Khan called a "preventable accident."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Lipinski
Royal compassion
Queen Elizabeth met with firefighters and rescuers and also visited survivors of the disaster, who were made homeless and housed in a temporary shelter.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/D. Lipinski
Careful search
The minute search for bodies in the charred building as well as building assessment at Grenfell Tower continued several days after the blaze.
Image: picture-alliance/I. McIlgorm
Immigration status concerns
Prime Minister Theresa May promised there would be no immigration checks on residents affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy. "We will make sure that all victims, irrespective of their immigration status, will be able to access the services they need, including healthcare and accommodation," May said.
Image: picture-alliance/empics
Charity match
Almost three months after the fitre, celebrities stood in silence for a minute before the kick-off of a charity football match in London aimed at helping to raise funds for the Grenfell Tower survivors.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/V. Jones
Prayer for peace
At the popular Notting Hill Carnival street party, London's Mayor and victims' families released white doves to remember those killed in the Grenfell Tower inferno ......
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y.Mok
Green for Grenfell
.... while other revelers, wearing green to show solidarity with people affected by the fire, visibly distraught and carrying handmade green paper hearts that spelled the word Grenfell, observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims.
