BERLIN; Authorities said a large fire broke out early Monday in an apartment building in the western German city of Essen, and victims were brought to a hospital after inhaling smoke.

According to local police, at least three people were injured after a large fire destroyed 39 flats in a residential complex in the western German city of Essen. The situation had "grown rapidly" by the time the first firemen arrived, according to a statement released by the city's fire service on Monday.

According to REPORTS, post-extinguishment work was still ongoing while authorities investigated the source of the incident.  Gale-force winds may have caused the fire to "spread furiously throughout the wind-blown facade and balconies," according to the fire service.

Even in adjacent buildings up to 15 metres away, the heat caused shutters to melt and windows to explode. "When you're standing here and there's a block of 50 apartments on fire, that's a scale you can't conceive," a firefighter told public radio WDR.

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