Berlin: Police said they found gas canisters and old war munitions in an apartment where a blast occurred early on Friday in the eastern German city of Blankenburg, killing one person and injuring at least 15 others.
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The victim was believed to be a 78-year-old man who was renting the property where the inflammable materials were found, they added on Twitter. Dozens of police and emergency services were on the scene, local media reported.
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Police said they believed the explosion was caused by exploding canisters and that they were being assisted by specialist bomb disposal teams.
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The area around the property was sealed off and nearby residents were evacuated, including children at a local nursery.
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None of the children were hurt, police said.
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Passers-by told broadcaster MDR they had seen several people lying unconscious on the ground as the fire brigade arrived.
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A photo tweeted by police showed a five-storey, communist-era residential block with smoke rising from blackened windows on the second floor.
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Blankenburg is a city in the hilly Harz district, in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.
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The Morning and Evening Brief###
The Morning and Evening Brief