Two people were rescued from a burning apartment on the eighth floor of a high-rise building in Magdeburg on Thursday. The fire broke out in the bedroom, a spokesman for the fire department said in the evening. The two residents - a man and a woman - were not injured. But they were in shock and received pastoral support, the spokesman said.

A clearly visible column of smoke had formed above the ten-story building, the spokesman said. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to other living areas.

Since it was initially unclear whether the apartment was still habitable, the man and the woman came to another accommodation as a precaution. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage were not yet known.