Ten people, including five children between the ages of 3 and 15, died in a fire early Friday at a residential building in Vaulx-en-Velin, near the French city of Lyon, the French interior minister said. Gerald Darmanin.
Four other people were seriously injured in the fire, which started on the ground floor before spreading through the seven-story building, rescue officials said. The fire, which started around 3am local time, was extinguished.
Footage on social media showed a huge dark cloud hovering over the building earlier in the day.
“I was woken up by screams,” a neighbor, Mohamed, told Le Progres de Lyon. “We wanted to help people, but the smoke was too thick.”
Other witnesses, cited by local media, said a woman threw her child into the crowd, who managed to catch him. She then jumped out of the window to escape the fire and smoke and died.
The Lyon prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation to determine how the fire started, and said it cannot rule out any hypothesis, including that someone deliberately started the fire. Darmanin, who is heading to the site, said there are “various scenarios”.
Neighbors told media, including Le Progres de Lyon and BFM TV, that squatters – possibly drug dealers – lived on the ground floor of the building, located in a Lyon suburb.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
