Seven members of the same family have been killed in a flat fire in Nice, according to reports, with police investigating the inferno as a possible arson attack.
Three of those killed in the fire are reported to have been children aged five, seven and 10. A teenager was also among the dead.
HOW IT WENT
Rescuers were alerted at around 2.30 am to the blaze in the working-class neighbourhood of Les Moulins in the southern French city.
They were confronted by a ‘violent apartment fire’ on the seventh floor of the building. They carried out three aerial ladder rescues and evacuated dozens.
According to the mayor of Nice, ‘hooded people could have been seen nearby, in the area’ before the fire, at between 1.30 and 3am, with security forces now mobilised to ‘ensure the safety of residents and prevent further acts after this tragedy.’
The blaze is now extinguished but firefighters remain at the scene. In total, 25 fire engines and 72 firefighters were involved in tackling the fire.
NUMBER OF VICTIMS
In spite of the substantial resources deployed, ‘unfortunately seven people died during this fire‘, firefighters said.
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Nice prosecutor Damien Martinelli said investigators were looking into a ‘criminal’ cause for the fire.
‘In light of the initial evidence, I have opened an investigation into acts of arson leading to death,’ he told journalists at the scene.
Rescuers said that one person was taken to hospital as an ‘absolute emergency’ and two others were hospitalised as ‘relative emergencies’.
