Paris: a building burned and at least ten dead

PARIS (AFP) .- "

Paris

is mourning this morning, "said the mayor of the
city, Anne Hidalgo, confirming that at least ten people died in a
fire that broke out in a building in the capital of

France,

incident that they suspected was intentional.

The fire also injured about 30 neighbors. "A person was arrested, a woman" who lives in the building, said the prosecutor Remy Heitz, who also confirmed the opening of an investigation for "deliberate destruction by fire with fatal consequences" .

Shortly after the start of the flames, firefighters arrived at the scene after a man called and evacuated over 50 people with stairs. After five hours of intervention, they managed to control the fire. About 200 firefighters, including six wounded, fought the fire in this building of the 70s, located in the 16th arrondissement of the French capital.

The victims died for two reasons: three died while falling from the building and five others were found in the rubble, according to what was published by
Le Figaro. The authorities estimate that this figure could be aggravated because it has not yet reached the seventh or eighth floor. "The balance is terrible," added the mayor.

The fire was declared just after midnight and caused "scenes of incredible violence," according to firefighters. Some residents of this building on Erlanger Street had to take shelter on the roof and others asked for help through the windows.

"At first we thought it was a fight, we heard a very loud woman yelling," said Nicholas, one of the neighbors. "We had to make many ransoms, especially from a dozen people who had fled to the roof," said Captain Cognon.

Two neighboring buildings have also been evacuated as a precaution, and district officials are looking for temporary housing. Dozens of streets in the area are blocked by dozens of police cars and fire trucks.

The area affected by the disaster is near the Parc des Princes – the stadium Paris Saint Germain -, the forest of Boulogne and Roland Garros tennis club. This is the third deadly fire in Paris over the last three months.

At the end of December, two women and two girls died from asphyxiation in a fire in a tower in Bobigny, a suburb of Paris. On January 12, a gas explosion caused a fire in the IX arrondissement of Paris and caused the death of four people.

The suspect

The arrested person is a 40-year-old woman who lived in the building and had, according to earlier versions, a "psychiatric history", according to the prosecutor, who also reportedly tried to set fire to a parked vehicle during the night. ;fire. near the building. "She was drunk and would have justified her action by a conflict with a neighbor," added the witnesses.

"We were awake around one in the morning, there was a very strong smell of burning and when I went out on my balcony, there were flames everywhere, people shouted at the windows," said one neighbors. "We are very worried, many children live in this building, especially in the affected floors," said another resident of the place.