3 dead in Bochum apartment block fire before dawn

3 people died and 5 others were injured when a fire broke out in a block of flats in Bochum's Hofstede district, in western Germany, in the early hours of Tuesday, German broadcasters WDR and WELT reported. Firefighters were alerted shortly after 04:15 local time and raced to the scene, according to WELT, which cited police.

When crews arrived, they found the building's staircase impassable, a fire service spokesman told WDR. "We could not get up through the stairwell at all," he said. Firefighters used a turntable ladder instead, raising it floor by floor along the outside of the building to check each flat for residents who might still be inside.

In a flat on the second floor, firefighters found 3 adults who had already died, WDR reported. Other residents of the building were brought to safety using jump cushions placed below windows and ladders raised to upper floors, the broadcaster said.

5 people were believed to have suffered smoke inhalation in the fire, according to an initial assessment cited by WELT and news magazine Stern, both of which attributed the figure to police. WELT reported that officers could not say at the time how long the firefighting operation would take.

The cause of the fire had not been established by Tuesday morning, WDR said, and investigators were also looking into whether the flat where the fire started had a working smoke detector. About 90 firefighters, volunteer crews and paramedics took part in the operation, and police set up an investigating commission, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.

Firefighters remained at the scene into the morning to finish extinguishing the blaze, and police closed the street outside the building for the duration of the operation, the broadcasters said.