A young man is suspected of being at the origin of this serious arson from which around thirty people escaped. He must be referred to the Bordeaux public prosecutor’s office at the end of his police custody this Monday.
When the firefighters arrived, flames several meters high were already coming out of the windows of this building located in the heart of Bordeaux, rue Montbazon. Alerted around 6 a.m. on Saturday, firefighters fought the fire and saved 30 people destined to “certain death” without their intervention.
Nine of them were evacuated using ladders hung directly on this two-story building via its interior courtyard and three others using aerial ladders. The cramped staircase, quickly ravaged by the flames, did not allow the trapped people to use it. However, no injuries were reported. Only two people affected by the smoke were evacuated to hospital.
An arson
According to the first elements of the investigation carried out by the Bordeaux national police, several accommodations in the building destroyed by the flames were regularly rented on Airbnb. This weekend, a group of young people set up there to party. The fire which broke out in the early hours of Saturday morning was apparently started by an individual who was taking part in it.
-Arrested on Saturday, the suspect initially denied it and assured investigators that he did not remember anything. However, videos establish that he set fire to the stairwell before fleeing the scene, according to our sources.
Placed in police custody on the charge of “degradation and destruction of the property of others with a means dangerous to people”, this individual born in 2001 could therefore be the subject of additional charges. A priori unknown to the police services until now, the young man of French nationality must be referred to the Bordeaux public prosecutor’s office this Monday.
Belgium
