Germany explosion: Police and firefighters hurt in blast at high-rise block

Three police officers and several firefighters have been injured in an explosion in the western German town of Ratingen, police say.

Officers had responded to reports of a fire in a flat in which a person was believed to be in a vulnerable state, a spokesperson told the BBC.

The blast happened shortly after they arrived.

Local media quoted security sources as saying that a targeted attack could not be ruled out.

Police said it was unclear what had caused the blast, which happened in a high-rise apartment block.

A large-scale police operation was under way in Ratingen, which is just north-east of Düsseldorf, police in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia said.

About 10 people had been injured in total, with some in a life-threatening condition, local reports said.

Journalists at the scene reported seeing police snipers take up positions on the roofs of neighbouring blocks.

German media quoted Herbert Reul, North Rhine-Westphalia's interior minister, as telling a federal state committee that police were called to the apartment after a residents organisation expressed concern that a resident's letterbox was overflowing.