France probes safety violations at holiday home where fire killed 11 people
Investigators are scouring the scene of a fire that killed 11 people at a holiday lodging in eastern France, as prosecutors raise concerns the building did not meet safety standards. A group of adults with learning disabilities were staying there at the time.
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Dozens of police officers were combing the remains of the residence in the town of Wintzenheim on Thursday for clues as to what started the blaze.
The fire, which broke out in the early hours of Wednesday while guests were asleep, is the deadliest in France since a blaze at a bar in the northern city of Rouen killed 14 people in 2016.
Regional prosecutors have opened an investigation into the tragedy.
The region's deputy prosecutor Nathalie Kielwasser said that the building, a converted barn in the traditional semi-timbered style of the Alsace region, had recently been renovated but had not undergone a safety inspection required for all public accommodation facilities.
The guesthouse "did not have the characteristics needed to host the public", Kielwasser told French news agency AFP.
Safety standards
"We impose a certain number of rules for the sake of safety," she said.
The building had smoke detectors "but not sufficient for this type of property," the prosecutor said. "The smoke detectors were up to standard but they are not the type of smoke detectors that are placed in properties hosting the public," she explained.
The owner of the property, who lives opposite and alerted the firefighters on Wednesday when the fire broke out, is in shock and has not been detained, Kielwasser said.
It remains unclear how the fire broke out, but investigators believe it must have been burning for several hours before the building's wooden beams caught light.
It is thought to have started on the upper floor, where the victims were found, France Télévisions reports.
Identification underway
People on the ground floor were able to escape, but many of those upstairs found themselves trapped.
Of 28 people in the building at the time, 17 survived.
Authorities confirmed that 11 bodies had been found by Thursday morning, though not all have yet been identified. DNA tests will be carried out on the remains.
The victims, who ranged from around 20 to 50 years old, included people with learning difficulties and others accompanying them. The group had been visiting the area on a trip sponsored by two local associations.
"In the face of this tragedy, my thoughts go out to the victims, to the injured and to their loved ones," French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who visited the scene on Wednesday afternoon, expressed her "sadness" over the "appalling" disaster.
Read also:
- Why 100 years after, Alsace remains a region ‘in between’
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(with AFP)
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