Around 12 police and firemen were injured in an explosion in a high-rise building in Ratingen in western Germany on Thursday. The police believe the explosion may have been intentional.

NTB reports on the case.

On Twitter, local police write that the explosion happened in an apartment in a high-rise block. Several of the injured are said to have life-threatening injuries, according to German Bild.

Derzeit gibt es einen größeren Einsatz in #Ratingen-West. Dort ist es aus noch nicht geklärter Ursache zu einer Explosion gekommen. Mehrere Personen sind verletzt, darunter auch Polizeibeamte. Weitere Infos folgen, sobald wir gesicherte Erkenntnisse haben. Ihre #PolizeiME

— polizei_nrw_me (@polizei_nrw_me) May 11, 2023

The explosion occurred on Thursday morning in Ratingen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. A major rescue operation is underway at the site. The police suspect that the explosion was intentional.

Several neighbours have pointed out to the police that the mailbox of an apartment has been overflowing, according to Bild.

There was suspicion of a helpless person in the apartment. When the police arrived, the apartment door was opened. A son and a mother lived in the apartment that exploded and a man is said to have caused the explosion with an unknown object, says the state’s interior minister Herbert Reul.

According to Bild, twelve people are said to be injured, two of them are life-threatening. The explosion occurred when the police and fire brigade, who had been called to assist a helpless person, opened the door to the apartment.

It is still unclear whether someone in the apartment turned on the ignition or whether it happened when the door was opened.