Second fire at Schlüchtern psychiatric clinic injures 12

A fire broke out for the second time in weeks at the Main-Kinzig psychiatric clinic in Schlüchtern, Germany, on Tuesday evening, injuring 12 people, local police said. The blaze started in a patient's room at about 21:00 local time, when a mattress caught fire.

Police said initial findings suggested a young patient was responsible for starting the fire. She had been alone in the room at the time, according to police. Investigators have not said what, in their view, caused the mattress to catch fire.

A ward doctor and a nurse rescued the patient from the burning room and contained the blaze before firefighters arrived, police said. Officers said their actions stopped the fire spreading to other patients' rooms or parts of the building. Firefighters then put out the flames completely.

Twelve people were treated as outpatients for suspected smoke inhalation: ten staff members, the young patient and one other patient, police said. More than 50 patients and numerous staff were in the clinic building at the time. Police said most had to temporarily leave their wards as a precaution, but were able to return afterwards once the building was declared safe.

The room where the fire started, and possibly parts of the ward, cannot be used for now, police said. They estimated the damage at about €30,000.

It is the second fire at the clinic within weeks. In early October, a mattress and a curtain burned in a patient's room, triggering a large response from the fire brigade; nobody was hurt in that blaze, and the damage was estimated at about €50,000. Police said there is so far no indication the two fires are connected.