Three die in Berlin sauna fire
Three men have been confirmed dead after a fire broke out in a Berlin sauna.
Firefighters were called to Steam Works late on Sunday evening to find around 25 people on the street.
Some of the men were dressed only in towels and robes.
Nearly all were treated at the scene, though one had to be taken to hospital. He is believed to be in a stable condition.
It is still unclear at this time how the fire started, but it’s reported that firefighters had to cut through a steel gate to access the site.
Taking up both the basement and ground floor of a seven-storey building, fire crews described the operation as “immensely difficult”, due to the maze of small spaces in the club.
It was inside the sauna’s individual cubicles that the three men were found.
Although post mortems are still to be carried out, it’s believed the men all died from smoke asphyxiation.
Fire investigators are expected to begin work on finding a cause for the blaze.
The building above the site was undamaged.
In 2015, a man was found dead in a sauna in London.
At the time the death was not treated as suspicious.
Berlin is famed for its tolerance of the LGBT community.
In February last year, the city opened a shelter for LGBT Syrian refugees.
