Ten firefighters and two police officers have been injured after a resident used an unidentified object to cause a blast at an apartment block in Germany, a state interior minister in the country has said.
Security sources have told Reuters they are not ruling out the blast in the town of Ratingen was a targeted attack.
Firefighters and police were called to the building this morning after concerns were raised about two residents, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state Herbert Reul has said.
When they forced open an apartment door, they found a fire and one of the inhabitants used an unidentified object to cause an explosion, the minister added.
Police officers have bene seen gathered outside the apartment block. Pic: AP
Television footage from the scene showed police snipers positioned on a balcony across the road from the building as smoke poured out of a top-floor apartment.
Police said the operation was ongoing and couldn’t immediately provide further details.
Ratingen is located on the northeastern outskirts of Duesseldorf, the state capital.
Interior minister Nancy Faeser is expected to give a statement on the incident this afternoon, state broadcaster ZDF has reported.
This story originally appeared on Skynews
