Patients in hospital gowns sat on the pavement outside the burning LUP Clinic as flames tore through the roof, forcing scores of evacuees into the pre-dawn cold. Two patients are dead and at least 34 others injured after the fire broke out at the five-storey hospital in Ludwigslust, northern Germany, at around 4.28am local time on Thursday.
Police described the blaze as “highly dynamic” as multiple teams were deployed to the scene. The flames started either in the roof of the radiology building or in a patient’s room, according to initial reports. Smoke quickly spread through the clinic, triggering an alarm at about 4.30am.
“Two patients died and 34 were injured when a fire swept through LUP Clinic in Ludwigslust, Germany, forcing evacuations.”
Many patients, still in hospital gowns, were evacuated from the 160-bed facility, which is the only hospital in Ludwigslust and provides basic and standard acute care for the region. Some were wheeled out in their hospital beds before emergency personnel transported them to safe areas. One man needed resuscitating, but none of the other injuries are believed serious.
Photos circulating on social media showed flames billowing from the roof, which appeared severely damaged. The fire department confirmed the blaze was later brought under control with no open flames remaining, though mop-up operations continued. Paramedics and hospital staff provided ongoing care to the evacuated patients.
The two fatalities were both patients at the facility, local authorities confirmed, but it remains unclear whether they were in the same room. The cause of the fire is not yet known.