The man in the wheelchair was brought out of his burning apartment by the fire brigade and resuscitated by the emergency services, but died at the scene of the accident, the Red Cross said on Sunday evening. The exact cause of the fire was initially unclear and is still the subject of investigations.
The emergency services were called shortly following 3:00 p.m. to the residential building with eight apartments, each with one resident. The man in whose apartment the fire broke out had to be brought outside by the fire brigade. However, resuscitation measures were ultimately unsuccessful.
The remaining residents were able to get themselves to safety by leaving their apartment or keeping windows and doors locked. The fire almost completely destroyed one apartment, but a total of 60 firefighters were able to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the house, according to Patrick Kaiser, commander and operations manager of the Roßbach fire brigade. The volunteer fire brigades Roßbach, Fraham and Rödham as well as two ambulances, an ambulance and a rescue helicopter were in action.
