A woman trapped by flames on the 11th floor of a burning building in Berlin jumped into the arms of a firefighter after a rescue lift could not reach her. The dramatic rescue unfolded in the Friedrichshain district, where nobody died in the blaze.
Rescue from a ledge
The woman dangled from a ledge as fire ripped through the room next to her. A cherry-picker eventually moved closer, but the lift was not big enough to reach her, leaving her with a 35ft drop as the flames crept nearer.
She let go and landed in the rescue basket with the firefighter before being lowered to safety from the 21-story high-rise. The fire injured five people and made some residents consider jumping to escape the flames before it was brought under control.
Fire details and evacuation
The blaze broke out around 6:30am on Friday in the Friedrichshain neighbourhood near the Ostbahnhof train station. It started in an apartment on the 11th floor and spread to the unit above. The fire's cause is not yet known. All of the building's residents were evacuated.
Wider wildfire context
The fire came as German authorities ordered almost 2,000 people to evacuate their homes after a wildfire gripped the western region and spread towards a village close to the border with Belgium. Residents were told to leave the village of Gey and move to an assistance centre at a primary school in the nearby village of Strass.
Large swathes of Germany are tackling dry conditions and high risks of forest fires, weather officials say. At least one person has died and seven are in a life-threatening condition after a severe wildfire tore through cities on Croatia's coastline. Around 1,200 residents and tourists were evacuated while 42 patients were examined, of whom 14 were hospitalised, ten remain in intensive care units, and seven are in a life-threatening condition and on respirators, the country's prime minister said. Travel plans for around 1.6 million UK tourists heading to Italy were disrupted as Rome, Milan, Venice and Naples were hit by red alert last week.
