Man detained over blast which injured firefighters and police officers

German police have detained a suspect in connection with an explosion at a residential building that injured 12 first responders on Thursday, a security official has said.

The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, Herbert Reul, said that 10 firefighters and two police officers were injured in the blast at a high-rise building in the town of Ratingen.

It was not immediately clear what caused the blast.

A body was also recovered from the building, Mr Reul said. The identity of the person and the circumstances of their death were not immediately known.

Firefighters and police were initially called to the building in the morning after concerns were raised about two residents.

Following the explosion, heavily armed officers took up positions around the site, with television footage showing police snipers on a balcony across the road from the building as smoke poured out of a top-floor apartment.

Hours later, a 57-year-old man was detained and brought out of the building, police said.

Ratingen is located on the north-eastern outskirts of Dusseldorf, the state capital.