Overview
- A loud explosion on Sunday morning caused about one third of the Martin‑Luther kindergarten on Schachtweg to collapse and blew out nearby windows, with the remaining structure judged strongly at risk of further collapse.
- Because the incident happened on the weekend the facility was empty and police say no children or staff were injured; search teams using sniffer dogs and specialized cameras completed operations and found no victims.
- Investigators from the fire service and criminal police are treating a gas explosion or a technical defect as the most likely causes but have not reached a definitive conclusion.
- The centre normally cares for roughly 90–100 children and runs a kitchen that prepared about 500 meals daily, so children are being temporarily redistributed to other evangelical facilities and two other kitchens will cover meal production.
- The site is secured for technical and forensic work, damage is estimated in the high six‑figure range, and city and church leaders are holding crisis talks to organise longer‑term care and repairs once engineers clear the building.