FRANCE: At least nine people were killed and two were missing and presumed dead in a fire at a disabled vacation home in northeastern France, as per officials. Firefighters stated they had little chance of finding another person alive after finding the bodies in the destroyed structure, which was a converted barn.
The group from Nancy reserved an exclusive gîte in Wintzenheim for the holiday season.
Fire department Lt Col. Philippe Hauwiller used drones to identify victims found on the first level of a building. The fire spread quickly with 11 individuals remained inside, while 17 managed to flee. Search efforts are ongoing for those who died while trying to flee. Nine bodies have been discovered, but search efforts are still ongoing, as per officials.
The intensity of the blaze led to the assumption that the victims were likely dead when firefighters arrived. The damage to the gîte made recovering their bodies more difficult. The first level had some people unable to exit, but everyone from the ground floor was able to escape, Philippe said.
Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, expressed his thoughts on the victims, injured, and their loved ones. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is expected to arrive in Wintzenheim on Wednesday afternoon.
The blaze, which started violently but was quickly controlled by 76 firefighters, began at 6:30 a.m. local time, according to authorities. Evacuation of 17 people was carried out from the house, while one of them was brought to the hospital.
“A fire broke out early this morning in a building for [disabled] people at Wintzenheim in the Haut-Rhin. Despite the rapid and courageous intervention of firefighters, whom I salute, there were regrettably a number of victims,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin tweeted.
The gendarmerie in Strasbourg has launched an investigation regarding the incident. The Nancy group is thought to have arrived on July 29 and stayed until August 19.
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