Housing block blaze kills 4 in western Germany: report

BERLIN, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed on Sunday after a fire that broke out in a social housing block in the western German city of Saarbruecken, news agency DPA reported.

Another person was seriously injured after jumping from the roof of the building to escape the fire, which broke out in the first or second floor at around 1:30 p.m. local time (1230 GMT), a police spokesman said.

Rescue workers were able to rescue several people from their apartments with an aerial ladder. The cause of the fire is currently being investigated.

Also on Sunday, police opened a "negligent arson" investigation a day after a fire broke out in a high-rise residential building in Berlin's Marzahn district, injuring 22 people.

A police spokeswoman said that the fire may have broken out in a kitchen inside the 10-story building, large parts of which were destroyed in the fire and are now uninhabitable.

Of the 22 people injured in the blaze, three were in serious condition. Twenty people were rescued from the building by firefighters.

Efforts to extinguish the fire by about 200 rescue workers -- aided by a helicopter -- lasted much of the day Saturday, DPA reported. Enditem