ZCZC
BFF-42
FRANCE-FIRE
10 dead in Paris apartment block fire, police suspect arson
PARIS, Feb 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – At least 10 people died and 30 were injured
in an overnight blaze at an apartment block in Paris that police suspect was
deliberately started by a female resident, officials and firefighters said
Tuesday.
The fire on the upper floors of the building in rue Erlanger in the
upmarket 16th district of southwest Paris is the most deadly in the capital
since 2005.
Dramatic video footage from the scene showed flames leaping out of top
floor windows and firemen climbing narrow ladders to rescue terrified
residents, some dressed only in pyjamas, from the top of the eight-storey
block.
Described by one rescue worker as a “scene of incredible violence”, the
blaze left at least 10 people dead and around 30 others injured — six of
them firefighters, the fire service said.
“One person who lives in the building has been arrested. She’s a 40-year-
old woman who has prior psychological problems,” Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz
said at the scene, where the smell of smoke still hung in the air several
hours after the blaze was extinguished.
An investigation has been opened into the criminal charge of causing death
by arson amid fears that the toll could climb further as investigators search
the burned-out top floors.
Tributes were paid to rescue workers who saved around 50 people on Monday
night, some of whom had climbed on to the roofs of adjacent buildings to
escape the inferno.
The fire started at about 1:00 am (0000 GMT) and was only brought under
control more than five hours later by around 200 firefighters backed by 100
fire engines.
“At windows, people were yelling ‘Help, help!’ everyone was panicking,”
witness Humberto Ribas, who works in a building opposite, told AFP.
Another local, who gave his name as Nicolas, said he initially thought a
fight had broken out when he heard a woman screaming.
“She was screaming, screaming and we went outside and the building was
already on fire,” he said.
– Inner courtyard –
But rescue efforts were initially hampered by the fact that the blaze was
ripping through apartments inside an inner courtyard, with no vehicle access.
“The firemen had just arrived but what was amazing was that they were
completely impotent,” Nicolas told AFP.
“They had the trucks, the big ladders, but they couldn’t do anything.”
Only once they had fitted extenders to their equipment, which needed to be
carried into the courtyard were the firefighters able to begin rescue
operations.
Several times the blaze appeared to have been brought under control before
flaring up again, another witness told AFP.
“The building was very difficult to access,” Daniele Giazzi, mayor of the
16th district, told BFM television as she paid tribute to the rescue workers
who toiled through the night.
Several local residents said the fire started after a dispute between
neighbours in the block, which was built in the 1970s, unlike many of the
older, classic Parisian buildings nearby.
“It’s one of the possibilities being examined by investigators,” deputy
mayor of Paris Emmanuel Gregoire told RTL radio.
– Sports stadiums –
The wealthy neighbourhood is home to several private schools and lies on
the edge of the vast Bois de Boulogne park.
It is close to the stadium of football club Paris Saint-Germain, the Parc
des Princes, and the Roland Garros complex used for the French Open tennis
tournament.
“France is waking up with emotion after the fire on rue Erlanger in Paris,”
President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.
“Thoughts for the victims. Thank you to the firefighters whose courage
helped save many lives.”
The fire is the most deadly in Paris since 2005 when an arson attack at a
building in the southeast 13th district killed 17 people, 14 of them
children. The worst fire in Paris since World War II was in April of the same
year when 24 people perished at a building used for temporary accommodation
after a fight between two residents.
Tuesday’s blaze follows a powerful gas explosion last month that killed
four people in the city’s central 9th district and is likely to renew debate
about fire safety in the City of Light.
Two adjacent buildings were also evacuated as a precaution and local
officials were on site to help find housing for residents who could not
return home.
Standing at the police cordon, Jose Emilien was anxiously seeking news of
his cousin and nephew who live on the sixth floor of the building.
“I called both of them,” the 46-year-old builder told AFP.
“They’re not picking up and I don’t have any news.”
BSS/AFP/RY/1918 hrs