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Manila Bulletin devider World devider France opens manslaughter probe into holiday home blaze

France opens manslaughter probe into holiday home blaze

Published Aug 11, 2023 01:04 pm

WINTZENHEIM, France - French prosecutors said Friday they had opened a manslaughter investigation into the death of 11 people in a fire in a holiday home which failed to meet safety standards.

Wednesday's fire, near Colmar in eastern France, was the deadliest such disaster in the country since a blaze in a bar in the northern city of Rouen in 2016 killed 14 people.

The home was unlicenced and flouting fire security standards required for hosting guests, according to local officials.

 

IMG_2051.png
A woman sits in front of eleven candles for eleven victimes as she pays tribute at the multi-purpose hall in Wintzenheim, eastern France, on August 11, 2023, two days after a fire erupted at a holiday home for disabled people, killing eleven people. (SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP)

 

Friday's statement said that the case had been taken over by Paris prosecutors who were investigating for "involuntary manslaughter and grievous bodily harm."

The property was hosting a group of adults with learning disabilities and their companions at the peak of the French summer holiday season in the picturesque area.

The guests on the lower floor of the timbered residence all managed to escape alive, but those on the upper floor found themselves trapped.

The probe announced Friday is to "determine the precise causes of the fire, and any criminal liability," the statement said.

President Emmanuel Macron called the deaths a "tragedy" this week, while Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne vowed that "all light" would be shed on what she described as an "appalling" disaster.

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