A fire has broken out at the royal palace in central Berlin, the capital's fire department said on Twitter. The conflagration caught the roof of the building which is a replica of a Prussian palace currently under renovation on the city's Unter den Linden.
According to the news agency dpa, a vat of roofing tar appears to have exploded outside the building and started the fire.
One person has been injured in the incident and is currently receiving medical aid.
The police are ruling out any deliberate nature behind the conflagration but said investigators will look into the causes of the fire after it has been put out.
The palace whose reconstruction began in 2012 is expected to be open later this year. The building was used by Prussia’s Hohenzollern dynasty as a winter palace in the 18th century. The facility is now expected to be a museum and cultural centre.