Fire in Budapest suburb kills at least 3 and injures 22

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — At least three people died and nearly two dozen others were injured after a building used as temporary lodgings for workers caught fire early Friday in a suburb of Hungary’s capital, authorities said.

Firefighters extinguished the fire in Budakeszi, about five miles (eight kilometers) west of Budapest, after it engulfed the two-story building in the early morning hours, according to Hungary’s National Directorate General for Disaster Management.

More than 40 paramedics and 18 emergency vehicles were dispatched to the scene. Firefighters pulled several survivors and three gas cylinders from the building. The bodies of two men and a woman were found beneath the collapsed roof of the building, a spokesperson for the disaster management authority said.

In a news conference Friday, a spokesperson for the Pest County Police Headquarters said an explosion in one of the rooms likely caused the fire. He added that several irregularities were discovered in the building, including gas usage that was out of compliance with regulations.

A criminal investigation has been launched in the case, police said.

Paramedics treated 22 people for injuries sustained during the fire, including four whose injuries were life-threatening. The injured were transported to eight hospitals in Budapest for further treatment.