The flames are extinguished but the damage is already very heavy. Last night, around three in the morning, a fire broke out in a building in Vaulx-en-Velin, in the Rhône, announced the Rhône prefecture. Ten people lost their lives, including five children, and 14 were injured, four of whom are in absolute emergency. The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin will go there, as will Olivier Klein, the Minister Delegate for Cities and Housing. 20 minutes takes stock of the information confirmed by the prefecture this Friday morning.
Where and when did the fire break out?
In the middle of the night, around three o’clock in the morning on Friday, flames began to devour a building in the town of Vaulx-en-Velin, starting with the ground floor of this seven-storey high building. They then spread to the upper floors, trapping some of the inhabitants in their homes, while the fumes invaded the common areas, according to the firefighters. “The fire would have started from the ground floor and would have jumped to the third floor”, according to David Annotel, representative of the Federation of Firefighters of France, questioned by BFM TV.
The alert was given at exactly 3:12 a.m. according to the press release from the prefecture consulted by 20 minutes. “It was appalling,” Mohamed, the cousin of a fourth-floor resident who managed to escape down the stairs with his two children, told AFP. Neighbors heard screams and tried to save lives, according to testimonies broadcast by BFMTV.
The fire occurred in the Mas du Taureau district, in a block of buildings, in full urban renewal after having long been the symbol of neighborhoods under tension in the Lyon suburbs. The metropolis launched in the early 2000s a program of 100 million euros to rethink what was to become an eco-district, develop local shops, develop public transport.
What is the balance sheet?
The balance sheet is heavy and would be final. No less than ten people died in the fire, including five children aged 3 and 15. In addition, 14 inhabitants of the building were injured, four of whom were treated in absolute urgency. “It’s a shock, the results are extremely serious (…) I spoke with the President of the Republic”, reacted the Minister of the Interior. Reactions of solidarity for the victims and their families began to pour in on social networks.
“It is above all the smoke that kills, specifies the continuous news channel David Annotel. The rise of smoke that can be imagined in the stairwell makes the evacuation of the inhabitants particularly complicated, despite the presence of first aid. »
What are the origins of the drama?
Incident or voluntary act? For the moment, the authorities claim not to have identified the cause of the start of the fire. The investigation will try to shed light on the origin of the flames. Findings are underway to determine the causes of the fire, according to a spokesperson for the prefecture on site.
How many firefighters were mobilized?
The disaster, whose “origin is unknown” is “now extinct”, according to the press release from the prefecture. And it is thanks to the 170 firefighters and 65 vehicles mobilized and arriving on site at 3:25 a.m. that the fire was finally brought under control. The intervention took place “in difficult conditions”, according to Gérald Darmanin. Among the ten people affected, two firefighters were also slightly injured during the intervention, according to the prefecture. A large force of gendarmerie has also been deployed on the ground. A large security perimeter has also been deployed in the city.
Which ministers will go there?
The Minister of the Interior quickly announced this morning that he was going to Vaulx-en-Velin. Olivier Klein, the Minister Delegate for the City and Housing, must also join the authorities on site in the morning to take stock of the situation, according to the prefecture.
In addition, according to the prefecture, the prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, prefect of the Rhône, Pascal Mailhos, the mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin, Hélène Geoffroy and the public prosecutor, Nicolas Jacquet, are already on site.