dpa
(TNS)
Dusseldorf — A man suspected of causing an explosion in a building near Dusseldorf causing injuries to around a dozen emergency workers was previously known to the German authorities, it emerged a day after the incident.
A warrant had been issued to the suspect due to an unpaid sum, Laura Neumann, spokeswoman for the Dusseldorf public prosecutor's office, told dpa. However, police data on the man showed "nothing relevant, nothing comparable," she said.
Twelve firefighters and police officers were hurt in an explosion on Thursday after they were called to an apartment in Ratingen, a town near Dusseldorf.
Police said later that a 25-year-old policewoman and a 29-year-old policeman suffered life-threatening injuries and that seven firefighters had serious injuries.
In all, more than 30 people were injured, according to the authorities.
It was unclear what caused the blast. German police arrested the 57-year-old suspect following the explosion, then found a dead body in the man's apartment.
Investigators are also looking into how the person found dead had died. The person had been dead for a long time, dpa learned.
The man is to be seen by a magistrate on Friday. It remains unclear whether the arrest warrant will be for attempted murder or attempted manslaughter.
It was unclear whether the police had questioned the man, but they said forensic specialists had not yet been able to enter the apartment where the explosion occurred until Friday.
"There was, after all, firefighting work and a lot of extinguishing water that had to be removed first," a police spokesman said.
The emergency workers who were seriously injured are struggling to survive and the police are investigating whether they were ambushed in the explosion that occurred on the tenth floor of the high-rise building.
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