a mother and her three children found dead

A mother and three of her children were found dead in the early evening, shortly after 21 hours, after the fire of a building in Aubervilliers, Seine-Saint-Denis. The fire broke out at 5 pm The firefighters fought more than 3 hours against the flames in this 18-storey building, which belongs to the Aubervilliers Public Housing Office (OPH), rue Hemet.

The fire started for an unknown origin on the 17th floor, and then spread to the lower floors and to the top floor because of the fall of inflamed materials. Six other residents were slightly injured and three firemen.

" I was at home on the 13th floor, I heard the door 'knock knock knock' and saw the police "says Abdelkader Keloua, a resident still in shock.

Young people in the neighborhood save the inhabitants

" We saw a little boy shouting out the window" Amor Ben Mbarek, 21, a resident of the city, at the microphone of France Bleu Paris . He calls the firefighters several times, at 5:05 pm His friend Stephane Attia Bishay, climbs to the 16th floor, with other young people. He knocks on the doors and saves a child and a woman, handicapped . " I cracked everywhere and helped a disabled lady get down from the 15th floor to the 1st, on foot " says the 22-year-old. " It was all black, 70 degrees, I was going to burn " he adds.

The two friends believe that the firemen were too late to arrive after several calls they show on their cell phone. "The firefighters took ten minutes to intervene" says Mickael Sibilleau, cabinet director of the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis: " they were called at 17:06 and the first machine was on site at 17:16 ".

The building evacuated totally for the night

In all, a hundred men badisted by a score of machines were deployed at the end of the afternoon. The streets around are closed. Many people gathered in the late afternoon and late in the evening, near the building.runned to see the damage.

The building, which has 108 homes, according to the president of the OPH, Anthony Daguet, also deputy mayor of Aubervilliers, could not be reinvested by residents this Thursday night. A gymnasium was made available by the city, with the support of the Red Cross. " The municipality was very reactive " said the prefect, Pierre-André Durand, who went on the spot.

As for the causes of the fire, they remain for the moment unknown. The central laboratory of the police headquarters made the first observations in the night.