2023-08-10 13:39:37
The emotion is still strong in the small village of Wintzenheim (Haut-Rhin) the day after the fire which caused the death of eleven people in a lodging which welcomed two groups of disabled people on vacation alongside their guides.
The deputy prosecutor of Colmar Nathalie Kielwasser affirms this Thursday morning that the lodging which lodged the victims was not in order. “He had not undergone the passage of the security commission which is mandatory” and “did not have the characteristics to welcome the public”, she explained, confirming information from France Blue Alsace. Here is what we know about this case.
Eleven people died in the fire
The fire broke out Wednesday morning around 6:30 a.m., when 28 adults were on this 500 m² site. Seventeen people, mostly on the ground floor of the building, were able to evacuate the premises. A person was hospitalized, slightly injured after intoxicating fumes, detailed the firefighters.
VIDEO. Fire in a cottage in Alsace: the deadliest fire for 7 years
The 11 people trapped inside the building are all deceased. The victims were found on the first floor of the gîte as well as in a collapsed mezzanine, said Lieutenant-Colonel Philippe Hauwiller, commander of the rescue operation. The flames ravaged approximately 300 m² of the building.
Fire extinguishers, smoke detectors…
Nathalie Kielwasser confirmed this Thursday morning that the gîte had not followed the course governing fire safety. “If you want to drive a car, you need a license, if you want to host people, you have to pass this commission which gives you recommendations on the reception capacity, etc. We will impose a certain number of safety rules on you, ”explained the magistrate.
The building, a recently renovated old barn, did have smoke detectors “but not sufficient for this type of structure (…) housing the public”, said the representative of the Colmar prosecution. “We cannot at the moment check whether or not there were fire extinguishers,” she said.
However, it has not yet been established that these approval and safety defects have a link with the incident and the safety rules: “I do not have the return of the criminal investigations for the moment”. The cottage accommodated 28 people in total: “From memory, 12 on the ground floor and 16 people upstairs with rooms that respected the reception capacities”, she specified, questioned on BFMTV.
The victims were taking part in a trip adapted for people with disabilities
The 28 people present in the gîte at the time of the fire were all from Meurthe-et-Moselle and Moselle, and were taking part in an adapted trip for disabled people organized by two associations, Oxygène Vacances Adapté and AEIM- Adapei 54. Among the victims, there are ten participants in the trip and one of their companions.
The president of the AEIM, Denis Renaud, went to the scene and announced the establishment in Nancy of a psychological support unit for families, in coordination with the Regional Health Agency of Grand Est. and the prefecture of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
A survivor jumped out of the window to save herself
One of the participants in the trip, in her twenties, saved her life by jumping from the first floor of the building. “She was awakened by the noise of the fire and the fall of various objects then opened the door of her room, on the first floor of the gîte”, explained to the Parisian Denis Renaud.
“She saw other people beside her who were still sleeping. She also tells us that she hesitated to get her comforter and her phone back, but preferred to jump out of the window before being received by another resident who had already left,” he explained. A feat, given the relative autonomy of this young adult: “She is great, in the sense that she managed to understand what was happening and react accordingly,” reacts Denis Renaud.
An open cell for the families of victims
Quickly after the start of the rescue operations, a medico-psychological support cell was set up. Municipal halls have been requisitioned to accommodate families, the first deputy mayor of Wintzenheim, Daniel Leroy, announced on Wednesday morning.
Three families went there, according to the elected official, adding that one of them left with a survivor. Flags are at half mast throughout the town, he added.
The prefecture then deployed a national and unique telephone number for families: 09.70.80.90.40. Put on standby at 8 p.m. Wednesday evening, it has been reachable again since 8:30 a.m. this Thursday.
In the evening, an ecumenical ceremony brought together around 70 people for around forty minutes, punctuated by times of prayer, at the Saint-Laurent church in Wintzenheim. The mayor of the town, Serge Nicole, has also decided to set up a burning chapel.
The causes of the fire unknown
Now the question arises of the causes of the fire. According to the deputy prosecutor of Colmar, “the origin would probably be for the moment a fire which has smoldered”, without it being possible “at this stage” to determine “the causes of this smoldering fire”.
“It is likely that the fire started from the first floor, but that is the investigation that will confirm it,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Philippe Hauwiller, commander of relief operations. The question of the role of wood in rapid conflagration is also on the table. Witnesses assured that the lodge had “caught fire very quickly, once set ablaze, because it is a wooden building made of cob”.
An investigation was opened by the Colmar public prosecutor’s office and entrusted to the Strasbourg research section. Investigators specializing in fires and coming under the National Gendarmerie’s Criminal Research Institute (IRCGN) were also mobilized. The owner of the cottage was heard by the gendarmerie on Wednesday afternoon, very shocked, confirmed the deputy prosecutor. However, she was not taken into custody.
The authorities unanimous in the face of the tragedy
Faced with the scale of the tragedy, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne went there on Wednesday, accompanied by the Minister of Solidarity, Aurore Bergé. Emmanuel Macron addressed his thoughts “to the victims, to the injured, to their loved ones” after “this tragedy”.
In Wintzenheim, the flames ravaged a lodging which accommodated people with disabilities and their companions. Faced with this tragedy, my thoughts go out to the victims, to the injured, to their loved ones. Thank you to our security forces and our mobilized emergency services.
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 9, 2023
Many ministers, including Aurélien Rousseau for Health and Fadila Khattabi in charge of People with Disabilities, also expressed their emotion in messages published on the X network (ex-Twitter). The latter went late Thursday morning to Villers-lès-Nancy, the city where the headquarters of the AEIM association is located.
The Wintzenheim fire has shaken our country.
I am alongside the families of victims and professionals to ensure that everything is done to guarantee their support.
The Government remains fully mobilized with all the actors on the ground. pic.twitter.com/fhXrPNGJDd
– Fadila Khattabi (@fadila_khattabi) August 10, 2023
“All families have a right to the truth, the whole truth. We must let the investigation take place in good conditions. The families are in shock, I wanted to respect this moment which was oh so painful, reacted on the spot Fadila Khattabi. Two people concerned chose this lodging, one had wished to return there. The whole country must be mobilized alongside these people who are in great suffering. »
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