The toll is particularly heavy. A terrible fire in a residential building left seven dead on the night of Wednesday to Thursday in a working-class district of Nice. All the victims were members of the same family, including “three children and a teenager”, announced the city’s prosecutor Damien Martinelli.
An investigation has been opened into “arson resulting in death,” he added, with the “criminal” theory being favored. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, accompanied by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, is expected on site around noon, the Prime Minister’s entourage indicated.
What happened ?
Firefighters were called around 2:30 a.m. to a fire that broke out on the seventh and top floor of a residential building in the Moulins district, a working-class area of the city.
When they arrived at the scene, emergency services were confronted with a “violent apartment fire,” emergency services said. The X account of the neighborhood’s residents shared images of the fire, which broke out in one of the buildings nicknamed “camembert” because of their circular shape.
The firefighters intervened “in less than 10 minutes,” insisted the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Hugues Moutouh. Around twenty engines and 72 firefighters were deployed. Despite the significant resources deployed, seven people died, according to the emergency services. One person who jumped out of a window was taken to hospital in “absolute emergency” and two others were hospitalized in “relative emergency”.
“The toll could have been higher” according to the prefect, who was keen to stress that the rapid intervention of the firefighters and the resources deployed made it possible to rescue “five people” trapped by the flames and who were at the edge of the windows. The firefighters thus carried out “three rescues by aerial ladder” and “33 safety measures” in total. Around twenty residents had to be temporarily housed in a municipal hall, the prefect indicated.
The origin of the fire is still unknown. According to the prefect, the fire started on the second floor, in the common areas, and spread to the floors via the dry riser. The forensic police went to the scene early in the morning.
A criminal origin?
“In light of the initial evidence, I have opened an investigation into arson resulting in death,” said the city’s prosecutor, Damien Martinelli, from the scene of the tragedy. “We are assuming it was arson,” insisted the magistrate. According to a source close to the investigation, the fire could be linked to drug trafficking, as the building in question is located in the immediate vicinity of a drug dealing point. The Moulins district, classified as a “city policy,” is particularly known for being home to drug trafficking.
Witnesses said they saw “three hooded people spilling liquid on the ground and setting a fire,” according to a police source. These people allegedly fled in a car, added a source close to the investigation. “We have images showing three hooded individuals entering the building just before the incident,” said the first deputy mayor of Nice, Anthony Borré, who went to the scene.
Who are the victims ?
Interviewed on RTL, the Alpes-Maritimes MP Éric Ciotti indicated that “it was an entire family” who perished in the fire. Among the seven victims, six were found inside the apartment, including three children aged “5, 7 and 10”, specified the prefect Hugues Moutouh. The seventh victim is a 17-year-old teenager who died after jumping out of a window. At the time of the fire, “10 people (were) inside” the apartment, according to the same source.
Still according to the prefect, the apartment was occupied by “a family clearly of Comorian origin”. Contacted by Le Parisien, Nourredine Debbari, a former resident of the neighborhood, who still manages the association “Nice Moulins Solidarités 06” and who says he “knows” the victims well, describes a “family without history, very pleasant, known, appreciated and involved in the neighborhood”, one of the children being “a volunteer coach at the football club”.
As for the very seriously injured person, he is a 47-year-old man who jumped out of a window, the authorities said.
What are the reactions?
The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, shared his “immense emotion” on X and announced that a crisis unit had been opened to accommodate families. “I salute the mobilization of firefighters, police officers and emergency services last night. The city’s services are all mobilized to support families and disaster victims,” he also tweeted.
Eric Ciotti, MP for the Alpes-Maritimes but also elected representative for the city of Nice and great rival of Christian Estrosi on the local political scene, also expressed his “immense emotion following (this) terrible fire”. “The police services will shed light on the circumstances of this terrible tragedy”, assured the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.
President Emmanuel Macron also expressed his “emotion” in an X-rated publication, sending his thoughts to the victims’ loved ones and thanking “the state services and emergency services for their actions.”
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