Fire tears through world-famous Christmas Market as tourists forced to evacuate

6 December 2023, 15:41

A Berlin Christmas Market went up in flames forcing crowds of tourists to flee and injuring two.

The fire broke out at the German market on Tuesday evening, sending two wooden huts up into flames.

Footage captured from the market shows huge clouds of billowing smoke surrounding the stalls as the blaze rips through two huts.

Emergency services turned off the electricity and battled the blaze, while two people were taken to hospital with injuries.

Those injured suffered minor injuries, including one market employee who attempted to tackle the blaze, alongside another being treated for smoke inhalation.

Two small gas cartridges exploded while firefighters tackled the flames, German outlet Bild reported.

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Police are investigating the cause of the fire.

"At the Christmas market at the Red Town Hall, two stalls caught fire,” a spokesman for the Berlin fire department said at the time.

"The fire is extinguished. The site is under control."

It comes after two people were arrested last week in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg after an alleged plot to launch an attack on Christmas markets.