an infant dies in a building fire in Elbeuf

The fire broke out around 9:40 a.m. Sunday, in the town of Elbeuf, in Seine-Maritime.

An infant died during a fire in a residential building in Elbeuf on Sunday January 12, in the Rouen metropolitan area, “ici Normandie” and franceinfo learned from corroborating sources. The Rouen public prosecutor’s office confirms to “ici Normandie” and franceinfo that a “7-month-old infant died” this Sunday. The single mother and her three other children, in shock, were hospitalized, but “their lives are not in danger”, specifies the prosecutor’s office which has opened an investigation. The origin of the fire remains to be determined, but the accidental possibility is favored according to a source close to the case at franceinfo.

The fire broke out at 9:40 a.m. Sunday, on the 4th floor, in the apartment where the infant was. According to this same source close to the case, the baby was found dead in the living room. The mother, single, aged around thirty, was absent at the time of the fire, the mayor told “ici Normandie”. Her three other children, born in 2021, 2014 and 2012, who were in the burning home, were able to be rescued. According to the mayor of Elbeuf, contacted by “ici Normandie”, the mother is “not failing” and was working in a nursing home this Sunday at the time of the fire. She is “trying to make ends meet,” according to the mayor.

Around fifty people were evacuated and taken care of in a nearby gymnasium and village hall. All residents were able to return to their homes at the start of the afternoon, specifies “ici Normandie”. The investigation “in search of the causes of death” was entrusted to the interdepartmental direction of the national police of Seine-Maritime, specifies the prosecution. Technical and scientific police operations are underway to determine the origin of the fire.

The Minister of the City reacted to X. “This morning, in Elbeuf, in a political district of the city, an infant died in his home due to a fire. I am thinking of the victims, his brothers and sisters, the injured, the family and loved ones”writes Juliette Meadel.