According to the France government, a seven-story apartment building in a suburb of the French city of Lyon caught fire on Friday, killing 10 people, five of them children, including a three-year-old.
The fire broke out at Vaulx-en-Velin, which is on the northern suburbs of Lyon in eastern France, injuring 14, including four who needed emergency care, according to the local authorities.
Before leaving for the scene, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters in Paris that 10 individuals had died, including five children between the ages of 3 and 15.
“We do not know the cause of the fire and the investigation will be able to find out,” he said.
“It’s shocking and the toll is extremely heavy,”he stated, adding that he had already spoken with President Emmanuel Macron about what had happened.
Local authorities said that the fire has been extinguished and that it started in Vaulx-en-Velin shortly after 3 am (0200 GMT).
According to Rida, a local neighbour, “I told my kid not to go to school, he’s shocked. It traumatised him to hear screams like that, screams of horror. My legs are shaking.”
On site at the structure in the northern suburb were over 170 deployed firefighters. While combating the blaze, two of them received minor injuries.
Author-Roberta Appiah
