Berlin police suspect arson after fire at 15-storey building downtown

Berlin police are investigating if the two people who died after jumping out of a burning high-rise building were the ones who started the fire.

The police investigations into serious arson center around the deceased 45-year-old man and 22-year-old woman, a police spokesman said on Saturday, adding that the investigation is still in its early stages.

The two jumped from the 12th floor of the 15-storey building in the Kreuzberg district in a blaze that broke out on Friday afternoon. Flames were leaping behind them from the flat.

Despite attempts by emergency workers on the ground, the two died at the scene, a fire brigade spokesman said.

The flat was destroyed by the fire but it did not spread to other parts of the building. Police said the other flats in the building are still habitable.

The fire brigade launched a large-scale operation and was preparing to deploy a safety cushion and a turntable ladder on Friday afternoon. However, the two who jumped from the 12th storey had low chances of survival, with the rescue cushion designed for a maximum height of 16 metres, meaning it was not sufficient for a height of more than 30 metres, a fire brigade spokesman said on Friday.

Even a turntable ladder would not be sufficient for that height, he said. "In high-rise buildings, the escape route is inside," the spokesman said.

Normally, emergency personnel would not try to rescue someone from this height from the outside.

Many of the residents managed to escape by using the stairs as the fire burned. Firefighters brought one adult out through the stairwell after finding him in the 12th floor corridor, a spokesman said on Saturday.

It took around half an hour for firefighters to put out the fire, just after 5 pm (1500 GMT), the fire brigade said.

The residential building is located on Lindenstrasse in Berlin-Kreuzberg, not far from the city's Jewish Museum.