An explosion has injured 25, four severely, and destroyed a building in the German city of Wuppertal.
Neighbours ran out into the street in a panic after the house was rocked by the blast shortly before midnight on Saturday.
Fire broke out as the house collapsed, leaving a gaping hole in the row of apartments and debris piled in the street and on top of a nearby car.
Four severely injured people were rescued and another 21 people were treated for injuries by emergency staff at the scene in the Langerfeld district.
Police said they were investigating the cause of the explosion and would not comment when asked if the explosion could possibly be terror-related.
"The work is made more difficult by the fact that the building is currently in acute danger of collapse," said a police spokesman.
"How this came to pass and what the background is, that remains completely unclear."
Search dogs had been brought to the scene to look through the wreckage for survivors.
The fire department said later on Sunday morning that rescued residents had confirmed there was no one else in the house.
"Now that human rescue has been completed, we're trying to keep the situation around the building stable," said a fire department spokesman.
Specialised engineers are trying to prevent further collapse after the attic and the top three floors were almost completely destroyed
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
