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Fire in Berlin high-rise injured 5, prompted some residents to consider jumping to safety
Firefighters evacuated 113 residents and rescued 25 others as 13 people suffered minor injuries, officials said.
On Friday at 6:30 a.m., a fire erupted in an 18-story residential building in Berlin's Friedrichshain neighborhood, forcing a woman to scale the exterior and leap into a firefighter's rescue basket two floors below.
Police reported the blaze started in an 11th-floor apartment before spreading to the unit above, with flames shooting from several windows and thick, black smoke pluming from the high-rise structure.
Eighteen fire engines, two aerial ladder trucks, and nine ambulances were deployed to combat the blaze, while 25 people were brought to safety using fire-escape hoods and a turntable ladder.
Thirteen people suffered minor injuries and received emergency medical treatment, with some transported to hospitals; in total, the fire affected 115 people during the incident.
Authorities described the response as "especially strenuous and requiring a significant number of personnel" given the scale of the fire and number of people affected.