February 05, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 26, 1429

BERLIN, Feb 4: Nine people, including five children, were killed in a fire in an apartment building in the western German city of Ludwigshafen, police said on Monday.

Adults and children jumped out of windows to escape the flames, officials said. Twenty people were being treated in hospital with injuries though none of them were in life-threatening condition, according to emergency services.

Officials said it was possible more bodies would be found.

It was not clear how many people were inside when the fire broke out because a number of non-residents were believed to have been watching a carnival procession from the building.

Fifty-two people, mostly Turkish citizens, were registered as living in the building, which authorities said was in danger of collapse. It was unclear what caused the fire, police said.

The number of fatalities could have been higher had a group of police, firemen and other emergency service personnel not been celebrating carnival nearby, officials said.

They helped catch children thrown from the upper floors of the building.—Reuters