Five children among 10 people killed in France apartment block fire
Ten people have been killed in a fire at an apartment block in France.
Five children are among the dead after a blaze broke out overnight near the city of Lyon.
Officials say it happened in a seven-storey residential building in the Vaulx-en-Velin area at around 3am this morning.
Around 170 firefighters were sent to the scene to tackle the deadly fire but not everyone could be pulled from the burning block.
One person living nearby told local newspaper Le Progres: ‘My kid, I told him not to go to school, he’s shocked, it traumatised him to hear screams like that, screams of horror. My legs are shaking.’
The children killed in the incident were aged between three and 15, authorities have confirmed.
Four people are said to be receiving emergency treatment and 10 other people, including two firefighters, have minor injuries.
The region’s local authority said the cause of the fire was not known at this stage, but it is now under control.
Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said: ‘We do not know the cause of the fire… there are several scenarios and a probe will be opened.’
French president Emmanuel Macron is being briefed on the deaths and a major investigation is to be launched.
Housing minister Olivier Klein wrote on Twitter: ‘I am going to the scene this morning to be with the residents, the elected officials and the emergency services.’
He said the provisional death toll was ‘chilling’, adding he had spoken to town mayor Hélène Geoffroy ‘to assure her of the State’s support’.
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