11 people missing after fire rips through building housing disabled young people
- The fire broke out at 6:30 a.m. local time in Wintzenheim, France
- Authorities said 17 people were evacuated, but 11 remained missing
Eleven people are missing after a fire broke out at a holiday home in eastern France, local authorities reported on Wednesday.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said several casualties were likely after the fire destroyed the cottage, which was home to a group of disabled people.
The fire broke out at 6:30 a.m. local time in the town of Wintzenheim, a town in the Haut-Rhin department of northeastern France, 15 miles from the German border.
Seventeen people were evacuated, one of whom was sent to hospital, and the flames were soon brought under control.
However, authorities said 11 people are still missing and search and rescue efforts have been suspended until the building is made safe enough to enter.
Eleven people are missing after a fire broke out at a holiday home in eastern France, local authorities said on Wednesday. Pictured: A firefighter sprays water after a fire broke out at a home for the disabled in Wintzenheim near Colmar, eastern France, on August 9
Firefighters extinguish a fire that broke out on August 9 at a home for the disabled in Wintzenheim near Colmar, in eastern France.
The fire broke out at 6:30 a.m. local time in the town of Wintzenheim, a town in the Haut-Rhin department of northeastern France, 15 miles from the German border.
“Early this morning a fire broke out in a building for the disabled in Wintzenheim, in the Haut-Rhin,” Darmanin wrote on Twitter.
“Despite the quick and courageous action of the firefighters whom I salute, there are several casualties. The intervention continues.’
A spokesperson for the Haut-Rhin prefecture said: ‘Despite the violence of the flames, the fire was quickly brought under control.
17 people were evacuated. 1 person was evacuated to hospital in relative distress and 1 person was in shock. 11 people from the adult Nancy group are still missing,” they added.
The deputy mayor, present at the site, told reporters that the fire likely started on the ground floor in an old renovated barn converted into a gîte (self-catering accommodation typical of France’s rural districts).
The occupants managed to escape, but the flames quickly spread to the first floor.
Seventeen people were evacuated from the building (pictured), one of whom was sent to hospital, and the flames were soon brought under control. However, authorities said 11 people are still missing and search and rescue efforts have been suspended until the building is made safe enough to enter.
The cottage is located on the grounds of the educational and pedagogical therapeutic institute (Itep) of La Forge (photo) in Wintzenheim
The gite is managed separately by La Forge’s adjoining educational and pedagogical therapeutic institute (Itep), local reports said.
The institute hosted a group of “disabled adults with mild intellectual disabilities who had come from Nancy for the holidays,” according to French media outlet DNA.
A significant emergency response has been deployed to the site, with 76 firefighters, four fire engines and 40 police officers at the scene, according to local media.
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