Man found dead after explosion at Bochum warehouse

A man was found dead outside a warehouse in the Gerthe district of Bochum, Germany, on Wednesday morning after an explosion, police confirmed. Witnesses called emergency services at around 9.15am after hearing the blast, a police spokesperson said, according to German broadcaster WDR.

The explosion shattered windows and damaged the building's facade, a fire service spokesperson said, according to Der Spiegel. Firefighters wearing chemical protection suits entered the building to assess the scene after responders found containers that may have held chemicals, some apparently leaking, WDR reported. The warehouse is a two-storey building, WDR said.

Police said it was not yet clear how the explosion happened or how the man died, and officers from the state criminal police office were called in to help analyse the chemicals found inside, according to German newspaper WELT. The area, in an industrial estate on Dieselstrasse, was cordoned off over a wide radius, and police used a helicopter during the operation.

Several outlets reported rumours at the scene that the building may have housed a drugs laboratory, but police said they could neither confirm nor rule this out. A fire service spokesperson said there was no danger to nearby businesses in the industrial estate, which is mostly home to scrap and recycling firms, Der Spiegel reported. The man's identity had not yet been established, Der Spiegel said.

No other deaths or injuries were found during a search of the building and surrounding area, WELT reported. Investigators were still working to establish whether the man's death was linked to the explosion, and whether the chemical containers found inside belonged there.

Police said they were working with fire crews to establish what had happened at the site, which lies on the edge of the industrial estate, according to Der Spiegel.