“The building is uninhabitable.” After the fire which left one dead in La Rochelle, the investigation continues

Firefighters are continuing their surveillance of the building in the historic city center of La Rochelle hit by an explosion, followed by a fire, Monday evening. A 63-year-old woman was found dead in the apartment she occupied on the 3rd floor.

The building at 12 rue Cordouan in downtown La Rochelle, hit by a violent explosion on Monday around 7 p.m. which left one dead, followed by a fire which spread to the roof, remains under surveillance this Tuesday. Charente-Maritime firefighters.

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“The building is uninhabitablenotes Captain Cousseau, commander of rescue operations, still on site, Tuesday morning. The stairwell is completely collapsed so we cannot access the upper floors. The ground floor part is also not usable.”

At this stage, no information has been given on the precise origin of the explosion. “The prosecution has been contacted and the investigation continues”indicated Pierre-Louis Sire, chief of staff of the prefect of Charente-Maritime.

The only clarification given by the firefighters was that the fire started after the explosion. “It is due to the explosion, but we do not know where it occurred”specified Commander Cousseau.

All morning, the building trustee and the insurers carried out various observations to assess the extent of the damage, but made no statement.

The fire spread extremely quickly.

Julie Bechet

Manager of La Cabosse enchantée

Located about ten meters away, the manager of La Cabosse enchantée remembers “to have been very afraid”.

“It was 7 p.m., I was tidying up my terrace and I heard a huge explosion, says Julie Béchet, the store manager. Afterwards, we were told 'there's smoke!' We called the fire brigade, took out the extinguishers and waited for the fire brigade.”

“It spread very quickly, she remembers. We could hear the fire crackling. We called people to come out. And this poor lady they called and we thought she wasn't there and, in fact, she was inside.”

The building contained three apartments. The person who died last night, a 63-year-old woman, was a tenant on the 3rd floor.

Rue Cordouan where the tragedy occurred was cordoned off this Tuesday morning and should remain so at least until the end of the day.