“Insane and incomprehensible” – what we know about the fatal explosion in NRW

A routine operation that escalates: in Ratingen, several emergency services were injured in an explosion. One gives a corpse and an arrest. What we know about the case so far.

What should actually be a routine operation because of concerns about a resident in a high-rise building in Ratingen in North Rhine-Westphalia turns out to be a terrible drama: “There was an explosion immediately, immediately, so a fireball came at the fire brigade and police colleagues to”. The police spokesman in Düsseldorf gave a drastic description of what happened on Thursday afternoon.

The officials had moved out of concern about a “helpless” person in a high-rise building in Ratingen in North Rhine-Westphalia. But then several emergency services are injured, some seriously, in an explosion. A 57-year-old was arrested and officers later found a body in his apartment.

How did the incident happen and why? The police are investigating an ominous case in which many questions are still unanswered. Here’s a rundown of what we know about the crime so far:

The emergency services were called around ten in the morning by the homeowners’ association because of an overflowing mailbox. The spokesman for the Düsseldorf police said they were worried about a resident in the high-rise building. The officials therefore assumed that there was a “helpless person” in the apartment on the tenth floor. A woman lives there with her 57-year-old son: Frank P.

Around 11:15 a.m., the emergency services tried to open the door on the top floor of the house. According to “Spiegel” information, the fire brigade was called in because of a smell of fire and decay.

But then suddenly the door was opened by a man, apparently the son of the local resident. According to information from “Spiegel”, Frank P. is said to have held out a piece of cloth to the emergency services and then set it on fire. This apparently triggered an explosion or deflagration. The police spokesman later reported a “ball of fire”.

A 25-year-old police officer and a 29-year-old police officer were critically injured in the incident. “22 others suffered minor injuries,” said the police. Seven people were injured by firefighters, three of them critically and four seriously.

After the explosion, numerous special police forces arrived at the scene of the crime. Officials cordoned off the area over a large area, armed police officers entered the high-rise building. Snipers also got into position. Video recordings show special forces accessing. According to the police, a total of 110 fire and rescue services from Ratingen and the surrounding area were deployed.

The body of a woman was found during the police operation. Due to their condition, the emergency services are certain that the person found dead died a long time ago. There was a strong smell of decay in the apartment, they reported. No official information was initially given about the identity of the dead. “Spiegel” reported that the dead could be the mother of the alleged perpetrator.

According to the police, the detonation was triggered by Frank P., a 57-year-old German national who lived in the apartment with his mother. He was arrested on the spot. He is being investigated for attempted homicide.

The police and the Ministry of the Interior initially said nothing about whether the man resisted the arrest. With serious injuries, wrapped in a rescue blanket and wearing a breathing mask, he was taken out of the house and to an ambulance. The police have also not given any information as to whether he was injured in the explosion or during the arrest.

Research on social media had shown that the man “was mentally in the corona denier environment,” North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) later reported in the specialist committee of the Düsseldorf state parliament. There are also criminal police findings about him. According to information from the “Kölner Stadtanzeiger” there was already an arrest warrant against the man because he had not paid the fine after being convicted of bodily harm.