Twelve homes evacuated in Rotterdam apartment building fire

A fire in an apartment building in Rotterdam prompted the evacuation of 12 homes in the building during the early hours of Tuesday morning. Four residents of the building were taken to hospital - three for smoke inhalation, and one who got cut on broken glass, Rijnmond reports.

The fire broke out on the eighth floor of the building on Spuikreek in the IJsselmonde district at around 1:45 a.m. The cause of the fire is not yet clear. Firefighters responded in large numbers and managed to extinguish the fire quickly.

"The eighth floor is a bit of a challenge to extinguish, so we needed some more hands," a spokesperson for the local security region said to Rijnmond. Extra firefighters were also deployed due to the cold. "You then relieve each other a bit faster."

The fire caused considerable damage in the apartment building. One apartment was declared uninhabitable and three others sustained considerable damage. The building's central heating boiler was also damaged, resulting in the building's heating not working.

The evacuated residents were accommodated in a local gym while they couldn't enter their homes.