Shelter hosting Ukrainians goes ablaze in Berlin

This is reported by DW with reference to a representative of the local refugee agency (LAF), Ukrinform saw.

As noted, a blaze in the refugee shelter, located at the former Tegel Airport in Berlin, destroyed on Tuesday a building with an area of 1,000 square meters that hosted a total of 301 displaced Ukrainians. Local authorities say no casualties were reported.

According to the representative of the fire brigade, the affected structure was designed for 380 people, but all residents managed to evacuate in time. At the same time, the police said several people suffered smoke poisoning, rbb24 Radio reports. People were also evacuated from four temporary refugee facilities located nearby. However, the fire did not spread to other buildings. Residents of the destroyed shelter have been provided with alternative accommodation, LAF emphasized.

The refugee center at Tegel Airport is one of the largest in Germany. It is designed for temporary accommodation of 7,000 people. Currently, it hosts about 4,500 refugees, many of whom have been living there for months. Originally, the facility was intended solely to receive people fleeing Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but is now used to accommodate other asylum seekers as well.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, in November 2023, the Bundesrat, the representation of the German federal states, approved the decision of the Bundestag regarding the extension of the protection status for Ukrainian asylum seekers until March 4, 2025.

Currently, there are about 1.1 million Ukrainians living in Germany after fleeing their home country since Russia invaded on February 24, 2022. About 350,000 of them are children and youths under the age of 18. About two-thirds of adult refugees are women.

Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa