Explosion in Ratingen: indications of corona deniers
A suspected corona denier triggered an explosion in Ratingen-West. A dozen emergency services were seriously injured. A targeted attack is not excluded.
According to preliminary findings, ten firefighters and two police officers were injured, some of them very seriously, in an explosion in an apartment in a high-rise building in Ratingen near Düsseldorf.
A body was found. This was reported by North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) on Thursday in the interior committee of the Düsseldorf state parliament. The alleged perpetrator has therefore found indications that he feels part of the corona denial scene. There are also criminal police findings about him.
According to Reul, he wants to go to Ratingen personally during the day. You can read all current developments here.
Large-scale operation with snipers
At the request of t-online, the Düsseldorf police announced that, according to the current state of knowledge, only emergency services had been injured. According to information from t-online, security circles have not yet ruled out a targeted attack. A spokesman for the state interior ministry told t-online that the alleged perpetrator had been arrested. A police spokeswoman confirmed this on site. It is the 57-year-old homeowner.
After the explosion at around 11:15 a.m. on Berliner Strasse, numerous special police forces arrived at the scene of the crime. Officials cordoned off the area over a large area, armed police officers entered the high-rise building. Snipers also got into position. Video recordings show special forces accessing.
According to information from t-online, Interior Minister Reul described the circumstances before the explosion in the committee: emergency services were called there because of a “helpless person”, said a police spokesman. The housing company called the police around 10 a.m. because a resident’s mailbox was overflowing.
Tenant’s son is said to have triggered an explosion
In order to open the door to the apartment in question, in which a mother lived with her son, the police called in the fire brigade. Then the son triggered a detonation with an object that was not yet known. The “Bild” newspaper reports that petrol was spilled in the apartment. When the emergency services tried to open the door, there was a serious explosion or deflagration.
