NICE – The city of Nice is in mourning this Thursday, July 18, as a fire, probably of criminal origin, left seven dead during the night. A heavy toll despite the rapid intervention of emergency services.
Here is what we currently know about this tragedy, in light of the information transmitted by the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Hugues Moutouh.
• Fire on the top floor of a building
The fire broke out around 2:20 a.m. on the night of Wednesday to Thursday in a residential building in the working-class Moulins district of Nice. The fire ravaged an apartment on the seventh and top floor. The district, located in the west of Nice, is classified ” city politics “ and gangrened by drug trafficking.
Called at 2:28 a.m., the firefighters arrived on the scene “extremely quickly”, “about ten minutes later”assured the prosecutor of Nice, Damien Martinelli. They rescued several people still alive in the apartment, before evacuating the thirty or so inhabitants of the apartments below using three large ladders.
According to residents interviewed by AFP at the bottom of the building, the wait lasted much longer than 10 minutes. Several of them said they took turns to water the awnings and parasols on the balconies to prevent the elements falling from the burning balcony from setting fire to the rest of the building.
Only residents served by the affected stairwell were evacuated. In total, around fifteen families were accommodated in a nearby municipal hall, pending rehousing.
• Three children among the victims
The toll is dramatic, despite the 25 engines and 72 firefighters deployed to fight the disaster.
The seven victims belong to the same family of Comorian origin. Among them are three children aged 5, 7 and 10, a 17-year-old boy, two women and a man. Survivors of the devastated apartment said that the mother woke them up to take them to the window before going back to get the other children and disappearing in the flames.
Another 47-year-old man was seriously injured when he jumped out of a window to escape the flames. The teenager did the same, clinging to his mattress, but did not survive. Neighbors had placed mattresses to try to soften the force of the falls, according to witnesses.
Two other people were hospitalized in « urgence relative »according to the firefighters. Four police officers are in shock after witnessing the defenestrations.
• The preferred criminal track
“We’re going to commit arson”declared the Nice prosecutor, Damien Martinelli, during a press briefing on site: “In view of the initial findings, I have opened an investigation into acts of arson resulting in death.”the magistrate said, without giving details of these elements.
According to the prefect, the fire started on the second floor, in the common areas, and spread to the upper floors via the stairwell. According to Anthony Borré, first deputy mayor of Nice, images from video surveillance cameras revealed the presence of “three hooded people” on site at the time of the incident.
« We have images that clearly show that there were hooded people who, at around 3am, scattered petrol in this stairwell which caught fire and spread to the apartment on the 7th floor. “, also assured the councilor Christian Estrosi
The building where the fire broke out dates from 1977 and was the subject of a renovation programme in the early 2000s.
• Attal and Darmanin expected on site
“Emotion with Nice after the deadly fire in the Moulins district. I thank the State services and the emergency services for their action. Our thoughts go to the relatives of the victims. We are at their side and at the side of all the people of Nice. United”reacted the head of state in a message published on X.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin have left for Nice, where they are expected around noon.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.fr
