Many killed in another Paris fire Sunday 04 September 2005, 13:35 Makka Time, 10:35 GMT
The toll from a suspected arson fire in a suburban Paris apartment building
has climbed by two to reach 14, the local mayor says.
Mayor Patrick Seve said on Sunday three victims were children and warned that
the toll "probably will rise further". Sunday morning's fire brings the number of deaths in recent serious
blazes in the French capital to nearly 40. About 160 firefighters tackled the fire which broke out in the
entrance hall of the 18-storey building at about 1am on Sunday (2300 GMT
Saturday), a French fire service spokesman said. He said most of the victims were choked by fumes. The fire was
brought under control in about three hours.
"The assumption of a
criminal cause of the fire is strong" It was the third major fire to hit the Paris area in 10 days,
with the other two already killing 24 people, mostly Africans, and raising
questions over fire safety and the treatment of immigrants. Arson suspected
Residents from all 110
flats were Four people were arrested after the fire, police said, releasing
no details on them. Town mayor Patrick Seve said witnesses described seeing
youths set fire to letter boxes in the entrance hall of the building. "The assumption of a criminal cause of the fire is strong,"
local police chief Jean-Luc Marx said. Protests On 26 August, 17 people including 14 children died when fire
broke out in a rundown apartment building housing African immigrants near the
Austerlitz station on the left bank of the Seine.
Jacques Chirac has
demanded Thousands of protesters demonstrated in central Paris on
Saturday to demand proper housing for poor African immigrants in the aftermath
of the deadly fires. Organisers said nearly 10,000 people - many of them
Africans - marched with banners from the site of the first fire. Police put
the figure at 5000. After the last fire less than a week ago, President
Jacques Chirac demanded action on fire safety to prevent further
tragedies. The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
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