In a fire in a care facility in Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, three people died on Tuesday evening. That said a police spokesman for the German Press Agency. There are also two seriously injured and several slightly injured. Firefighters are still working, but the fire has been extinguished.

According to the head of the fire brigade, the fire broke out in a living area on the first floor. The fire was limited to a patient room. "It was an enormous psychological burden for the squads that were in there. We alerted our psychological aftercare," said Martin Reicherter.

Reutlingen's Lord Mayor Thomas Keck (SPD) was shocked. "It's a black evening for Reutlingen," he said Tuesday at a press conference at the scene of the accident. The managing director of the facility, Gerhard Längle, also spoke of a "disaster".

The cause of the fire is still unclear at this time. "We're still at the beginning," said a police spokesman.

The social-psychiatric specialist nursing home is home to people with mental illnesses who also need nursing care. The description of the home operator on its website states that there are 38 residents in groups of eight people who live in six individual apartments.