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Firefighters extinguish the burning refugee shelter in Apolda, Thuringia, on Sunday morning
Photo: Johannes Krey / dpa
After a fire in a refugee shelter in Apolda with one fatality and some injured, Thuringian politicians are dismayed. "The cause of the fire must now be clarified quickly. The criminal investigation department is investigating at full speed," Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD) said on Sunday. He expressed his condolences to the relatives. 70 police officers were deployed in Apolda on site and in the evacuation and investigations into the cause of the fire, Maier also wrote on Twitter.
Since the fire, which is said to have broken out early Sunday morning in the living area of the refugee shelter, a nine-year-old boy is missing, according to police. Whether the dead person found was the missing boy could only be determined with final certainty after a forensic medical examination. Previously, MDR Thuringia and »BILD« (online) had reported, citing Mayor Rüdiger Eisenbrand (non-party), that the victim was a child. Ten people were injured, according to police, apparently they inhaled too much smoke.
"My thoughts are with the family and in the grief! A speedy recovery to all the injured," wrote Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left) on Twitter.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) made a similar statement on the platform, expressing her sympathy to those affected. She continued: "The federal security authorities are in constant contact with the Thuringian police and are ready to provide support at any time."
Thuringia's Migration Minister Doreen Denstädt (Greens) drove to Apolda to get an idea of the situation on the ground. She rejected hasty assessments of the causes of the fire. "The public prosecutor's office is investigating the facts. This is done carefully and comprehensively. Therefore, everyone should refrain from drawing premature conclusions until the investigation is completed," Denstädt said.
According to a police spokesman, the public prosecutor's office in Erfurt has initiated a so-called death investigation. In such cases of fire with fatalities, this is the standard procedure. There does not have to be an initial suspicion of a crime.
Many children among those affected
The approximately 250 residents of the shelter, including many children, are people from different countries, said a spokeswoman for the Weimarer Land district office. They came from Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan, among others, and are to be brought to Hermsdorf by bus on Sunday. There they are to be temporarily accommodated in the initial reception for refugees.
tgk/dpa