Fire in Solothurn: a report

Solothurn, one day after the fire: 1 cigarette, 6 dead

Fatal consequence: "Improper use of smokers" triggered a thick smoke fire in a residential building in Solothurn. Six people were killed, including children, and four were seriously injured. A person is in detention.

Wolfgang Wagmann / ch media

Dramatic scenes must have occurred shortly after two in the morning Monday at Wengistrasse 40: desperate people shouting at the windows for help, wrapped in thick smoke rising from the ground floor in flames.

In front of "Tele M1", a man will report that he jumped out the window, while another, who had tried it from above, fell to death. Even a baby has been thrown to despair, it is said.

In addition, emergency services are fighting for the lives of evacuees. In some cases, in vain: Six dead, including children, develop the sad balance. Finally, the cantonal police confirm that there are always four people seriously injured in the hospital. And one person was provisionally arrested on Monday afternoon.

There was smoke everywhere

Boris Anderegg, commander of the fire brigade at the Solothurn base, described his first impression of the scene of the fire: "There was smoke everywhere." At 2:10 am, one of them had been alerted.

The 60 firefighters were immediately dedicated to rescuing residents who had called for help through the windows of the upper floors. "We also used the airways.There were too many rescues, even above the scales." He still can not tell the number, "but it was probably between 10 and 20 rescues. "

The commander confirms that the fire occurred on the ground floor. Anderegg also confirmed that a large number of ambulances, even from the neighboring canton of Bern, were on site. Rescuers tried to resuscitate the victims, unfortunately inconclusive, which would have taken up to half an hour according to eyewitnesses.

The firefighters treated

The firefighters were confronted with very stressful scenes during the night. "Yes, it was decisive," said the commander. The fire brigade of Solothurn had for the last time in 2012, during a housing fire in the Greibengasse, a driving death. In a similar case on the Hans Huberstrasse with a deceased resident, experienced firefighters were in tears. "Our team was therefore taken care of by the cantonal health team at 6 o'clock at the end of the mission," explains Boris Anderegg.

Eleven hospitalized patients

The situation was also painful for the rescue services. Beat Walser, head of operations for the emergency services of the Solothurn hospitals, confirmed to "Tele M1" that a total of ten ambulances were in service, half of which arrived from Grenchen and the Bernese district. "In total, eleven patients were admitted." One person was able to leave the hospital the same day.

At five o'clock in the morning, Mayor Kurt Fluri was informed by the fire brigade commander, Boris Anderegg, of the tragic tragedy at Wengistrasse 40 and rushed to the scene.

"It's a black day for Solothurn," he said on the spot. And later: "The fire was not the worst, it was just a room fire." Fatal was huge smoke. "It is inconceivable," said the mayor, "to my knowledge, there has never been such a catastrophic fire in the area".

Canton rented apartments

When Fluri arrived on the scene, the operation of firefighting and rescue was already completed, the corpses were placed under a tent in the city parking lot. In property number 40, the township rented two floors for accommodation of asylum seekers, "children went to kindergarten". However, only nine people were registered at the Wengistrasse 40. In reality, the burning time was about 20 people in the apartments. "The evacuees were temporarily accommodated in the Schöngrün Civil Defense Center," continued Fluri.

Claudia Hänzi, head of the cantonal office of social security, did not want to give information on the status of residents. She just confirmed: "Yes, we rented living spaces in the property."

City is considering a memorial service

I also thought that Kurt Fluri had organized a memorial service for the deceased. "However, we must first know if and which religious denominations have been listened to by the victims." After that you will be able to deal with an ecumenical memorial service in detail.