The center of the northern German city of Hamburg was engulfed in toxic smoke from a fire in two warehouses on Sunday.
The center of the northern German city of Hamburg was engulfed in toxic smoke from a fire in two warehouses on Sunday.
The fire broke out at 4:30 a.m. and initially the center of Hamburg was blackened by smoke. Although the first focus of the flames was relatively small, difficulties were caused by the lack of water in the nearby area, due to which the extinguishing works were significantly delayed and the flames spread to an increasingly wider area.
Public broadcaster NDR reportsthat containers with hydrogen sulfide caught fire.
Firefighters have given the fire a degree of extreme danger. There is no information yet on how the fire started. There are no reports that anyone was injured in the fire.
According to the initial investigation, hydrogen sulfide is leaking at the scene of the fire, requiring emergency responders to wear breathing masks.
Firefighting continues.
The burning warehouses are in the Rotenburgsort district of the city, located on the banks of the Elbe.
Residents in a large area in northeastern Hamburg are being asked to keep windows and doors closed and protect themselves from smoke. Air conditioning or ventilation should also be stopped. At midday, the official warning message was updated and classified as “hazard information”. At the moment, elevated pollution readings are not detected in the city, but the warning remains.
Residents of a large part of the city are asked to protect themselves from the smoke by closing windows and doors.
Photo: Fire in Hamburg
The German train company “Deutsche Bahn” reported in the morning that the tracks between Hamburg and Biechen had to be closed due to the fire. According to the company, trains between Hamburg and Berlin will be diverted and delayed by around 90 minutes. IC and ICE trains between Hamburg and Rostock have been cancelled.
Local transport is also restricted by the fire service. “S-Bahn Hamburg” closed the route between “Berliner Tor” and “Billwerder-Moorfleet” in both directions due to the fire brigade.
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