Death toll rises to 5 in hospital fire in northern Germany

BERLIN (AP) — The death toll from a fire in a hospital in Germany this week has risen to five. All of the victims were patients. Investigators are seeking to understand the cause of the blaze that broke out late Thursday at the hospital in Uelzen, southeast of Hamburg. Emergency workers arrived to flames and calls for help. They evacuated several people and were able to stop the fire spreading any further, according to the dpa news agency, which cited police. Firefighters and police, some using ladders, rescued several patients from their rooms. The German news agency dpa reported late Friday that a fifth victim succumbed to injuries.