News
Fire Kills 10 In Lyon Apartment Block, Including 5 Children
(CTN NEWS) – According to local authorities, a fire that started overnight on Friday at a residential building close to the French city of Lyon is believed to have killed ten individuals, five of whom were children.
Four of the additional 14 injuries were significant.
According to the Lyon and Rhone regional government, the Vaulx-en-Velin fire, which occurred in the eastern suburb, was not initially determined to have had a cause.
https://twitter.com/JunckoFIFA/status/1603143416015212546
After the alarm was raised at a seven-story apartment building just after 3am local time on Friday, dozens of ambulances and fire crews were dispatched to the scene.
Gérard Darmanin, the interior minister of France, arrived on the site and declared the death toll “definitive,” noting that the slain youngsters ranged in age from three to fifteen.
He said that an investigation would establish the cause. The fire was doused and put out.
The minister reported that 10 people were only slightly affected, while four were gravely hurt. According to the prefecture, they also included two fire officers.
TRAPPED INSIDE
According to fire officials, the fires started on the ground floor and then spread to the upper stories, locking several occupants inside their apartments while smoke filled the common areas.
“It was horrific,” said Mohamed, the cousin of a resident on the fourth floor who was able to escape up the stairs with his two kids.
According to testimony aired by BFM-TV, neighbors heard shouts and attempted to save lives.
Social media started to be used for reactions to the incident, including messages of support for the victims and their relatives.
The incident happened in the Mas du Taureau neighborhood, which is undergoing urban renewal after being long recognized as one of numerous underserved Lyon suburbs.
Early in the new millennium, the city started a €100 million effort to redesign an area that was intended to be an eco-district and to build local businesses and public transportation.
Olivier Klein, the housing minister, also announced that he was en route to Vaulx-en-Velin and called the death toll “chilling.”
Un violent incendie s’est déclaré cette nuit à Vaulx-en-Velin. Le bilan provisoire fait froid dans le dos.
Je me suis entretenu avec @HeleneGeoffroy pour l’assurer du soutien de l’Etat.
Je me rends sur place dès ce matin pour être aux côtés des habitants, des élus et des secours. pic.twitter.com/7tVPF8t5tZ— Olivier Klein (@OlivierKlein93) December 16, 2022
Klein posted on Twitter, “I am traveling to the scene this morning to be with the locals, the elected representatives, and the emergency services.”
He continued by saying that he had spoken to Hélène Geoffroy, the town’s mayor, “to reassure her of the State’s support.”
The interior minister Darmanin stated that he has spoken to President Emmanuel Macron about the catastrophe.
RELATED CTN NEWS:
Landslide In Malaysia Kills 16 People, Leaves More Than 20 Missing
Cannabis buds Sales to be Controlled Online in Thailand Next Year