2023-08-09 10:24:35
At least 11 people “missing” following a fire in a cottage welcoming disabled people near Colmar, we learned this Wednesday from firefighters.
The latter were alerted around 6:30 a.m. in this building located in Wintzenheim, said the Haut-Rhin departmental fire and rescue operational center (Codis), confirming information from France 3 Great East. The Haut-Rhin fire and rescue service therefore deployed 76 firefighters and 40 gendarmerie soldiers on site.
According to the Haut-Rhin prefecture, 17 people were evacuated, one person “in relative emergency” was transported to hospital and one person is “shocked”. According to information from DNA, the firefighters of Mulhouse dispatched a canine team to participate in the research. On the spot, the criminal identification technicians of the gendarmerie and the research brigade begin their investigation which is entrusted to the research section of the Strasbourg gendarmerie. A psychological cell has been activated, indicates France Blue.
“We have an uncertainty if people stayed and how many”
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announces that “several victims would be to be deplored”.
A fire took place early this morning in a structure welcoming disabled people in Wintzenheim, in the Haut-Rhin. Despite the rapid and courageous intervention of the firefighters whom I salute, several victims are to be deplored. The intervention continues.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) August 9, 2023
“We are uncertain whether people have stayed and how many,” said the Haut-Rhin gendarmerie. For the moment, the firefighters cannot specify whether the missing are residents or companions.
The cottage rented by a Lorraine association for the disabled was the scene of a “widespread conflagration”, according to the firefighters.
But “the fire was quickly brought under control despite the violence of the flames”, explains the prefecture. The building is an old barn renovated into a gîte of 500 m2 on the ground with two floors and an attic. The fire started on the ground floor, firefighters said. According to the prefecture, “300 m2 were set on fire”.
The Deputy of Haut-Rhin and former Minister Delegate for Integration, Brigitte Klinkert, reacted to the social networks : “All our thoughts to the families of the victims, and all our gratitude to the firefighters for their courage. »
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