HAMBURG: Clouds of smoke have covered downtown Hamburg following a fire in two warehouses east of the city centre on Sunday.
"Hamburg's city centre is completely blacked out," a spokesman for the Hamburg fire brigade said. Fire authorities have classified the fire and smoke as "extreme danger."
The fire is ongoing as crews seek to extinguish it, authorities said.It broke out in the district of Rothenburgsort, which is on the Elberiver and borders Hafencity, among other places.
The fire brigade could not initially give any information on how exactly the large fire could have occurred during the night or what exactly was in the burning warehouses.
Residents were being urged to keep windows and doors closed and protect themselves from the smoke in a wide area in Hamburg's north-east.
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn also announced that the tracks between Hamburg and Büchen had to be closed due to the fire.
Police and fire officials warned locals of possible toxins in the air after fires broke out early on Sunday at multiple storage facilities.
Some 140 people were evacuated, and it is not yet possible to say exactly how dangerous the situation is, a police spokesperson said.
A spokesperson with the fire department said they had reduced the threat level somewhat, even though the fire was still burning at midday, but that people should remain indoors with windows closed.
Authorities said the fire began in Rothenburgsort, just a few kilometres southeast of central Hamburg, and that the smoke cloud was moving in the direction of the city centre.
Multiple police, fire and other emergency workers were at the scene as a thick cloud of dark smoke billowed upwards.
The police spokesperson said the sky had darkened as a result, but the weather made it difficult to determine how much was smoke and how much was clouds. — Agencies
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