woman dies after explosion followed by fire in building

An investigation has been opened to determine the origin of this explosion. Around forty firefighters were mobilized for this “major intervention”.

A strong explosion resounded this Monday, November 25 in the historic city center of La Rochelle. An explosion, followed by a fire, ravaged a building, the fire having spread from the ground floor, where a laundry is located, to the roof, reports Sud-Ouest.

A 63-year-old woman died of cardiovascular arrest after her floor collapsed on the third floor of the building.

“A major intervention”

The other residents had time to get out before the fire spread upstairs. In addition, around twenty residents of neighboring buildings were evacuated. More than forty firefighters were mobilized to the scene.

After the explosion, “part of the staircase collapsed and a fire then started on the roof,” Captain Pascal Cousseau, commander of rescue operations, told TF1.

“It was a large-scale intervention. The buildings are on top of each other. There was a fairly significant risk of the fire spreading to neighboring roofs,” he explained.

An open investigation

An investigation has been opened to determine the origin of this explosion. According to Sud-Ouest, the fire was brought under control around 10 p.m. and it came from the laundromat. The explosion occurred when the boiler was hit, our colleagues report. For his part, Commander Cousseau affirms that the origin of the explosion has not yet been identified, according to comments reported by France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Speaking to TF1, an owner of an apartment on the first floor of the damaged building said that the emergency services told her that “the structure held”. “The tenant will be able to return to the accommodation tonight,” she specifies.