Fire in apartment complex in Leiden, 10 people rescued

A fire broke out in a six-story apartment complex in Leiden on Saturday night. The fire department evacuated the student housing complex on Bètaplein and took ten residents out of their homes with a ladder truck. All other residents were able to leave their homes on their own. According to the police, no one was injured.

The fire broke out shortly after midnight in the technical room on the 2nd floor of the residential building. Around 1 a.m., the fire was declared under control.

Firefighters had to use a ladder truck to get ten residents out of the building because they could not exit their apartments through the hallway due to the heavy smoke, the fire department reported. Paramedics later examined them to determine whether they had inhaled smoke. "Nobody had to go to the hospital," said a spokeswoman for the safety region.

Heavy smoke was in the building complex for a long time. The fire department ventilated the building, and almost all residents have since been able to return, the safety region reported at around 3:45 a.m. In the end, one house proved to be uninhabitable. According to the spokesperson, around 100 students were evacuated and housed in a nearby school building.