the neighbors miss “a woman's love”

See my news
Follow Paris News

Outside, residents and business owners have never heard of the affair. Inside, we only talk about that. In the hall of this building on rue Jean-de-La-Fontaine, in Paris (16th), the questions are flying. On the Whatsapp group which brings together residents, questioning messages follow one another and press articles take turns. What happened?

Sunday November 10, 2024 around 11 p.m., in this building in the 16th arrondissement, one of the residents was found deadasphyxiated by carbon monoxide. His companion was hospitalized with a vital prognosis and her children were also taken to the hospital. An investigation was opened by the Paris prosecutor's office and entrusted to the 16th arrondissement police station.

Incense and charcoal

Sandra, the building's concierge, tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together to understand the circumstances of the tragedy. She is very active on the residents' Whatsapp group, although she has struggled to gather information since the accident. Neither the police nor the social landlord Paris Habitat communicated the progress of the investigation.

Kumari lives in the apartment above the victim's. For her, there is no doubt: her neighbor, of Malian origin, died after lighting glowing coal to burn incense. “It’s an African rite, she did it regularly,” she emphasizes. “My 8-year-old son and I have asthma. We felt it as soon as she lit the coal,” says Kumari, hand on her lungs. “She must have left the coal in her room for too long without opening the window,” she laments.

The victim, a mother of five children and in her forties, had lived in the building for around twenty years. Appreciated by her neighborsshe was coming out of a difficult marital relationship, according to them. “It was a woman’s love. She had very, very well-bred children,” insists Marie-Christine, still in shock at the disappearance of this “always elegant woman.”

When contacted, the Paris public prosecutor's office did not respond to our requests and the evolution of the state of health of the other victims was not communicated.

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.