3 die in fire after explosion at small shop in Germany

At least three people died and more than a dozen others were injured after an explosion at a small shop in Dusseldorf caused a massive fire, authorities said on Thursday.

The explosion occurred at around 2.25 a.m (0025GMT) local time at a small shop on the ground floor of an apartment building in the Flingern district of the city, a spokesman of the fire department said.

"When the first emergency services arrived on the scene, they found that the shop was fully engulfed in flames. The flames had already reached the second floor," the spokesman told Bild newspaper.

At least 16 people had been rescued and taken to nearby hospitals, and two of them were seriously injured, according to the spokesman.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. The police said an investigation was underway in cooperation with other state authorities.