Baby hurled from blazing flat out of third-floor window is caught by policeman
littlemisslinkz said
17:20 02/04 2008
Baby hurled from blazing flat out of third-floor window is caught by policeman
This is the dramatic moment when a two-year-old child was thrown from a third floor window after a suspected arson attack in flats in Germany.
As a police officer edged along the ledge to try to help the people trapped inside, the parents attempt to save their youngster in the most radical way.
Scroll down for more...
Escape: One person edges along a ledge, top left, as the child (ringed) was thrown from the smoke-engulfed flats in Ludwigshafen, southern Germany. It is feared the blaze was started by neo-Nazis
The child was seen falling through the smoke...to be caught safely in the hands of waiting policemen nearly 40 feet below.
But at least nine other people - five of them children - were not so lucky and perished in the fire which devastated the old house where 52 people lived in the southern city of Ludwigshafen.
Scroll down for more...
Terrifying sight: The young baby hurtles towards the ground from the third-floor window
A further 60 people were injured in the fire, some of them seriously, which broke out at 4.30pm yesterday afternoon.
At least two more people are expected to die from their burns. Many Turkish families lived in the block, prompting fears that neo-Nazis may have torched it.
Police have formed a special commission to determine the cause of the blaze.
The toddler seen was one of two thrown to safety from the four storey building into the arms of policemen.
Scroll down for more...
Agonising: The family watch helplessly and hope the two-year-old is caught safely
It remains unclear whether their parents escaped the flames and smoke.
Cushions and pillows were piled into the streets below as people cut off from the burning stairwell were urged to jump.
At one stage firemen smashed in through a second floor window to rescue a four-year-old child totally black from smoke. He was treated in hospital and will survive. The fire broke out in the first floor of the four-storey building on Danzigplatz.
The flats were filled with Sunday afternoon visitors calling on friends and relations who wanted a view of a carnival street festival attended by 250,000 people in the old centre of the city. "Anyone caught in that backdraft was incinerated in seconds."
Scroll down for more
Rescue: A boy is handed to safety as scared residents, mostly immigrants, make their way onto the balconies. It is feared the arson attack was carried out by neo-Nazis
Flames burst from windows and within half an hour the roof had caved in on the inhabitants trapped inside.
"The old wooden stairwell acted like a chimmney, drawing flames two metres in height upwards like a blast furnace," said a fire brigade spokesman.
Police were forced to evacuate old houses on either side of the fire for fear that the flames would spread.
By this morning the building was a blackened, gutted shell in danger of collapse.
Eva Lohse, the mayor of Ludwigshafen, stood before the smoking ruins last night with tears streaming down her face.
Police said they fear finding more bodies trapped inside
Crazypickney said
18:08 02/04 2008
Wow! made my *lo** run cold
jamaican5star said
18:14 02/04 2008
WTF .... i dunno if i could drop mi Baby through the Window .. but mi glad seh Everyting kool Stillz .. Sad Sad Story
AJ said
19:21 02/04 2008
wow supposed the police dis miss the catch
Krazily Insane said
20:48 02/04 2008
me really glad dat d baby kool still...
chronic_387 said
20:51 02/04 2008
Suppose im wife call im while the baby a fly come down....."Hello"........[SPLAT] ..........glad it never happen that way, nice catch
viper_3kj said
20:54 02/04 2008
Glad everything worked out
up2 said
12:23 02/05 2008
happy it worked out for the baby but it jus shows that all over the world a jus pure fukry a gwaan.
This is the dramatic moment when a two-year-old child was thrown from a third floor window after a suspected arson attack in flats in Germany.
As a police officer edged along the ledge to try to help the people trapped inside, the parents attempt to save their youngster in the most radical way.
Scroll down for more...
Escape: One person edges along a ledge, top left, as the child (ringed) was thrown from the smoke-engulfed flats in Ludwigshafen, southern Germany. It is feared the blaze was started by neo-Nazis
The child was seen falling through the smoke...to be caught safely in the hands of waiting policemen nearly 40 feet below.
But at least nine other people - five of them children - were not so lucky and perished in the fire which devastated the old house where 52 people lived in the southern city of Ludwigshafen.
Scroll down for more...
Terrifying sight: The young baby hurtles towards the ground from the third-floor window
A further 60 people were injured in the fire, some of them seriously, which broke out at 4.30pm yesterday afternoon.
At least two more people are expected to die from their burns. Many Turkish families lived in the block, prompting fears that neo-Nazis may have torched it.
Police have formed a special commission to determine the cause of the blaze.
The toddler seen was one of two thrown to safety from the four storey building into the arms of policemen.
Scroll down for more...
Agonising: The family watch helplessly and hope the two-year-old is caught safely
It remains unclear whether their parents escaped the flames and smoke.
Cushions and pillows were piled into the streets below as people cut off from the burning stairwell were urged to jump.
At one stage firemen smashed in through a second floor window to rescue a four-year-old child totally black from smoke. He was treated in hospital and will survive. The fire broke out in the first floor of the four-storey building on Danzigplatz.
The flats were filled with Sunday afternoon visitors calling on friends and relations who wanted a view of a carnival street festival attended by 250,000 people in the old centre of the city. "Anyone caught in that backdraft was incinerated in seconds."
Scroll down for more
Rescue: A boy is handed to safety as scared residents, mostly immigrants, make their way onto the balconies. It is feared the arson attack was carried out by neo-Nazis
Flames burst from windows and within half an hour the roof had caved in on the inhabitants trapped inside.
"The old wooden stairwell acted like a chimmney, drawing flames two metres in height upwards like a blast furnace," said a fire brigade spokesman.
Police were forced to evacuate old houses on either side of the fire for fear that the flames would spread.
By this morning the building was a blackened, gutted shell in danger of collapse.
Eva Lohse, the mayor of Ludwigshafen, stood before the smoking ruins last night with tears streaming down her face.
Police said they fear finding more bodies trapped inside