A fire broke out Wednesday morning around 6:30 a.m. in a lodging, rue Principale, in La Forge, Wintzenheim in the Haut-Rhin. The building adjoins the therapeutic, educational and pedagogical institute (ITEP) La Forge and welcomed a group of 28 people, some of whom suffered from a “mild mental handicap”.
The essential
- The fire broke out around 6.30 a.m. in a gîte which accommodated 28 disabled people and companions from an association in Nancy.
- The Haut-Rhin prefecture speaks of 11 people “potentially deceased”, occupants who are missing
- Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne goes there
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Live
10:52 – The missing 11 people are “possibly deceased”indicates the secretary general of the prefecture of Haut-Rhin, Christophe Marot, to the journalists on the spot. “Unfortunately, there are not many doubts: all these people were present in the lodging and could not come out”.
According to the report sent at 9:30 a.m. by the Haut-Rhin prefecture, “11 people from the group of adults from Nancy are still missing”, an accompanying person and ten disabled people. The firefighters will only be able to evacuate the bodies when the rubble no longer smokes and the building is secure, specifies Christophe Marot, the secretary general of the prefecture on franceinfo.
The Prime Minister and the Minister of Solidarity Aurore Bergé will go there. On Twitter, Elisabeth Borne expresses her solidarity with the victims and salutes the mobilization of the firefighters.
Still according to the prefecture, 17 people were evacuated. There is a person in relative emergency evacuated to the hospital and a shocked person.
The Haut-Rhin firefighters have committed significant resources: 76 firefighters, four fire trucks, four ambulances, an advanced medical post and three ladders to contain the fire and provide care for the victims. 40 gendarmerie soldiers are also mobilized.
“No element at this stage” on the causes
The fire was “quickly mastered” but it was very violent: 300m2 were set on fire in a 500m2 building. I’judicial investigation begins, announces the Haut-Rhin prefecture. “No element at this stage” makes it possible to know the causes of the outbreak of fire.
Families of residents must arrive on site. A psychological cell has been activated. The RD417 is cut, the time of the intervention.
