At La Forge (Haut-Rhin),
A striking smell. That of the burned. Even ten hours after the dramatic fire which broke out early this Wednesday morning in Alsace, the fumes are struggling to leave. Smoke still escapes from the group lodging where the tragedy occurred. On the spot, the firefighters are still busy, in very large numbers. They were joined by criminal identification technicians, whose white coats recall the worst news stories. Above them and this old barn rehabilitated and now devastated, drones turn. Helped on the ground by dogs and their masters in search, too, of possible survivors.
Of the 28 who were staying there again last night, including 26 people with mild mental disabilities and two companions, how many were able to escape? The terrible figure that had been circulating since the morning was finally confirmed in the middle of the afternoon: the fire killed 11 people. “All those who slept on the ground floor were able to escape, as well as 5 out of the 16 who were upstairs. All went through the door, ”explains the deputy prosecutor of the Republic of Colmar, Nathalie Kielwasser.
“I cried this morning”
A few moments earlier, Elisabeth Borne preceded her in front of the microphones. The Prime Minister, after a brief visit with the emergency services, then expressed “all (her) sadness and (her) solidarity”. A feeling widely shared within this hamlet of less than 200 inhabitants, “La Forge”, in the town of Wintzenheim (Haut-Rhin). “I cried about it this morning,” admits Samia, a neighbor who came like many to see with her own eyes what she discovered in the media. “If an incident like that had happened in Marseille, we would have just said ‘it’s stupid’. There, you feel it differently,” adds Pierre, who had “seen or felt nothing” from his neighboring village of Walbach.
Christian, he was in the front row. He lives in the big green house right next to the famous gîte. “It was a stable in the past, it belonged to my parents”, testifies the big guy, who could only see the carnage when he woke up. “I got up around 6 a.m. and heard screams as if someone was cutting the pig’s throat,” he said. I opened the window and saw flames 20 meters away. It was panic. In these cases, nothing can be done. I just quickly went to open the portal of the IME (Medico-educational Institute) where I work nearby so that the firefighters could access. They quickly hooked up the water trucks and were able to intervene. »
The 50-year-old still describes a “fire that caught very quickly with dry wood and cob” typical of half-timbered houses. How did he leave? Investigations began on Wednesday but the answer was not known. “It’s meticulous work that will take time,” eludes a representative of the research section of the Strasbourg gendarmerie. The deputy prosecutor of the Republic of Colmar is more verbose. “The origin would probably be for the moment a fire which has smoldered, it does not seem to be of electrical origin or linked to an auxiliary heating”, she clarifies, without specifying whether fire alarms equipped the place.
The owner of the cottage should be able to tell, she who lives “right across” from the place. She was heard on Wednesday, as part of an open investigation “to find the causes of death”. Another question that arises after the tragedy: why so many residents had been accepted? Its rental, refurbished five years ago, is referenced on the internet for less than 20 beds and 28 people were staying there on Tuesday evening… From “two different groups”, according to Nathalie Kielwasser, one of an association located in Nancy, the other in Besançon. “People came from all over the Grand-Est. We cannot yet say who the victims are, we are trying to identify them, ”specifies the magistrate.
“The date will remain marked”
Logically shocked, the survivors were sheltered in a gymnasium in Wintzenheim. The families were expected there during the day and DNA samples should be taken there in order to allow the identification of the victims. The drama has not finished marking this usual quiet valley of Munster, where hikers like to go green.
“The date will remain marked”, assures Nathalie, who lives just opposite the still smoking gîte. “From memory, I do not remember such a terrible tragedy in Alsace”, adds the deputy of the 2nd district of Haut-Rhin Hubert Ott. In this hamlet of La Forge, it goes back to 2006. A feminicide took place right next to the gîte.