Five people were seriously injured overnight when an explosion ripped through an apartment building in the western German city of Wuppertal.
Residents were awoken by a violent bang just before midnight on Saturday when a blast ripped through large parts of the three-storey terrace house.
People ran out of neighbouring houses in panic as metre-high flames billowed from the rubble.
Thirty-one residents either escaped the building on their own or were rescued by firefighters.
Hours later, another larger section of the house collapsed.
It had been unclear whether other residents had been trapped or killed by the falling debris, but authorities used neighbours’ accounts and sniffer dogs to ultimately rule out any further victims.
Photos of the scene showed piles of rubble and debris surrounding the building.
Large parts of the facade and roof were missing, and a car in the street was completely crushed by the rubble.
An excavator began demolition work on the ruins yesterday afternoon.
The cause of the explosion remained under investigation.
“How this came to pass and what the background is, that remains completely unclear,” a police spokesman said.
Authorities initially said that 24 people were injured in the explosion and fire before revising the count downward.
Debris of the house that exploded in the night is seen on the street in Wuppertal, western Germany.
