Baby and parents survive building blaze

A split-second decision by a desperate father saw his baby daughter survive an apartment fire in Germany in which nine others died.

The nine-month-old girl was caught by firefighters after being thrown from a window, and it has now been confirmed her parents also survived, although her mother remains in hospital.

At least nine people, including five children and a pregnant woman, were killed in the blaze which ripped through the four-storey apartment block in southwest Germany on Sunday. A further 60 were injured.

Ludwigshafen police spokesperson Wolfgang Froemel said terror quickly swept through the building.

He said: "Families with children were standing on the balconies, and the whole building was on fire in very short time, so there was no means of escape through the stairwell for the affected people."

Rescue officers and investigators were still unable to enter the building on Tuesday because of the danger it might collapse.

Two Turkish families lived in the apartment block, and Turkey's prime minister has expressed concern about possible arson.

The Head of Turkish Community in Germany Kenan Kolat said that locals felt "shock, mourning, and anger because we don't know for sure whether it was an attack or not."

"Children have died, children are important, so the Turkish population is of course enormously shocked.

"But on the other hand there is huge support from the local authorities. And the German people are ready to give a lot which is a relief, but you cannot give a life back," he added.

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