Bar blaze in Berlin-Charlottenburg injures residents in flats above

Firefighters in Berlin said 21 people were injured by smoke after a fire broke out in a bar on Kaiserdamm in Charlottenburg on Tuesday morning, 20 October. Three residents were taken to hospital with serious smoke inhalation, Tagesspiegel and WELT reported, citing the city's fire brigade.

The bar occupied the ground floor of a six-storey residential and commercial building near Sophie-Charlotte-Platz. The building also contained accommodation for elderly people, including residents with limited mobility, increasing the difficulty of moving people away from the smoke.

Fire crews were called early on Tuesday morning. The bar was already burning fiercely when they arrived, and smoke had spread into the building's stairwells. Heat broke some windows on upper floors, but firefighters said the flames did not spread to adjoining units.

Berlin's fire service declared a mass-casualty response because of the amount of smoke and the needs of people living above the bar. About 113 fire and ambulance personnel were deployed, according to Tagesspiegel. The designation allowed additional medical and rescue resources to be sent to the scene.

Most people affected were elderly residents. Emergency teams assessed those who had inhaled smoke and transferred three to hospital after initial treatment. Others received assistance in buses operated by the fire service and Berlin's public transport operator BVG while the operation continued.

Firefighters evacuated affected accommodation and checked 11 flats. Crews ventilated rooms and stairwells before declaring the fire extinguished. The operation also involved efforts to prevent smoke from spreading farther into the building.

Police opened an investigation into how the fire started. The city's building-control authorities were checking whether residents could return to their homes and which parts of the property were safe to use. No final structural assessment was provided in the initial reports.

The fire occurred in Charlottenburg and is unrelated to a separate reported knife attack in Neukölln. These incidents took place at different locations and must not share source records, casualty figures or investigative claims.