Explosion in a residential building in Vienna: Pregnant women injured

2023-08-07 07:58:00

The force of the detonation on the first floor of the four-storey building threw debris onto the street and into the courtyard, but no fire broke out, according to the fire brigade, who were still on duty in the morning. A total of eleven residents were brought to safety, and the 30-year-old pregnant woman came to the hospital for clarification.

The cause of the explosion in the old building was initially unclear. The emergency services were alerted at 4:50 a.m. Since a fire was initially reported in addition to the detonation, a large-scale operation was triggered, said Jürgen Figerl, spokesman for the professional fire brigade. 69 emergency services with 18 vehicles moved out.

Entire building evacuated

The firefighters evacuated the entire building, including one resident and one resident of the apartment where the explosion occurred. At the same time, the main gas tap in the house was turned off and the electricity and water supply was cut off. The professional rescue service provided medical care for three of the eleven evacuees, including the pregnant woman, explained rescue spokesman Daniel Melcher. The two other people could be left in place.

In the apartment where the explosion occurred and in some of the neighboring apartments as well, walls had fallen over or been badly damaged, and windows were thrown onto the street and into the inner courtyard. The firefighters secured the site of the explosion and searched for possible victims in the rubble, but found no other people.

The statics of the house must be checked

Structural engineers were requested to check the condition of the house and the police began investigating the cause of the explosion, fire department spokesman Figerl reported. It is not yet known if the house is still habitable. Safety measures were still being carried out by the emergency services in the morning.