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Read our Privacy notice Eleven people have been killed in a devastating fire that ravaged a holiday home for disabled people in France The blaze tore through a building in the town of Wintzenheim burning the vacation home down to charred smithereens Dozens of firefighters battled raging flames as they fought to contain the fire and treat the victims 11 people were reported missing with 17 others evacuated including one casualty who was sent to a hospital At around noon Lieutenant Colonel Philippe Hauwiller said nine bodies had been found with two more feared dead deputy prosecutor Nathalie Kielwasser confirmed “there are 11 victims,” as prime minister Elisabeth Borne and other officials visited the site of the fire the secretary general of the local administration said on news broadcaster France Info that 10 people with disabilities and a carer accompanying the group were believed to be among the dead The holiday home was rented for the summer by two charities that take care of people with learning disabilities Many of the visitors came from the city of Nancy in eastern France a statement from the Haut-Rhin prefecture said said 11 people who were sleeping on the upper floor and in a mezzanine area of the private accommodation in the town of Wintzenheim were trapped by the fire Some 12 people who were staying on the ground floor were able to evacuate Investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances of the fire and whether the building met all the required security standards Authorities said one of the survivors was sent to a hospital with serious injuries French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne arrived at the scene on Wednesday afternoon She said she wanted to show the government’s support for the families of the victims and for the firefighters and rescuers on site who was leading the rescue work of firefighters said the fire likely started on the home’s upper floor The ground floor was made of stone and the upper part of the building was built entirely of wood in the traditional style of the region which might partly explain why the fire spread so quickly Wintzenheim deputy mayor Daniel Leroy said that those missing were likely to be aged between 25 to 50 for their vacation,” a statement from the Haut-Rhin prefecture said Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said there were several casualties after the fire ravaged 300 square metres of the 500-square metre building “Despite the rapid and courageous intervention of the fire department adding rescue operations were still ongoing Local deputy mayor Daniel Leroy told BFM Alsace that the sleeping quarters are “all gone,” adding: “The wooden structure collapsed there is nothing left.” Firefighters said the blaze started on the ground floor of the building four fire engines and four ambulances attended the scene and 40 police officers were also mobilised The fire was quickly brought under control The French Prime Minister Élizabeth Borne earlier said she was heading to the scene. She wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Following the terrible fire that took place in Wintzenheim last night, I am going there with @auroreberge. “My first thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones. I salute the mobilisation of the firefighters.” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote: “In the face of this tragedy, my thoughts are with the victims, the injured and their families. Thank you to our security forces and emergency services.” Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies govt and politics","score":0.982084},{"label":"/law Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Fire service says 17 people escaped ferocious blaze at gîte in Haut-Rhin Eleven people have died in a fire at a holiday home for disabled people in north-east France The death toll was confirmed by a public prosecutor after firefighters spent hours combing the destroyed building – a converted barn – for the bodies of victims The private gîte at Wintzenheim in the Haut-Rhin had been hired by a group from Nancy for the holidays of the fire service said the bodies had been found on the first floor of the building and were identified by drones Hauwiller added: “It’s hard to say at this stage how the fire started or how it spread so quickly and with such intensity Some people from the first floor managed to escape but most of those who escaped were from the ground floor.” Gendarmes and firefighters attempted to remove the bodies from the building a task complicated because more than half of the building had been destroyed shortly after which a call was made to the emergency services and the fire had spread throughout the building,” Hauwiller said 11 people were still in the building for whom no action was possible He said that given the ferocity of the fire the victims were most likely dead by the time the firefighters arrived Recovering their bodies had been complicated by the extensive damage to the gîte “Everyone from the ground floor was able to escape but not everyone on the first floor could reach the exits.” confirmed that 11 people had died in the fire The guests were described as having “minor mental disabilities” The prosecutor said the unnamed owner of the gîte was being questioned by investigators but it was too early to say how the fire had started or if the property conformed to safety regulations “As you can imagine [the gîte owner] is extremely shocked It was she who raised the alarm and who heard the victims crying for help,” Kielwasser said tweeted that his thoughts were with “the victims arrived in Wintzenheim on Wednesday afternoon An investigation into the fire has been opened by the gendarmerie in Strasbourg A fire ripped through a vacation home for adult people with disabilities in eastern France on Wednesday killing nine people while two others are believed to have died Fire rages at a vacation home in the town of Wintzenheim A fire ripped through a vacation home for adults with disabilities in eastern France on Wednesday Firefighters try to contain the blaze at a vacation home in the town of Wintzenheim This graphic shows the location of a fire that broke out early on Wednesday 2023 in a holiday home for people with disabilities PARIS (AP) — A devastating fire that raged through a vacation home for adults with disabilities in eastern France left 11 people dead Wednesday moving so quickly that people on the upper floors had no chance of escaping said 11 people who were sleeping on the upper floor and in a mezzanine area of the private accommodation in the Alsacian town of Wintzenheim Twelve people who were staying on the ground floor were able to evacuate who had “slight intellectual disabilities,” were on a vacation sponsored by two specialized associations Investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances of the fire and whether the building met all the required safety standards The ground floor was made of stone and the upper part of the building was built of wood with heavy timbers in the traditional style of the region The local administration of the Haut-Rhin region said the fire broke out at 6:30 a.m said on news broadcaster France Info that 10 people with disabilities and a person accompanying the group were believed to be among the dead No other information about the victims was provided Fire officials at the scene said that while the fire quickly engulfed the structure Video showed flames lapping above a ball of fire on the second floor She was in shock but answered initial questions from investigators The fire department deployed 76 firefighters four fire engines and four ambulances to contain the blaze and treat the victims The fire was brought under control Wednesday morning French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X the social media platform formerly known as Twitter: “In the face of this tragedy Thank you to our security forces and emergency services.” where a group of the vacationers hailed from insisted in an interview with BFM TV station that the tragedy should not put an end to such vacation excursions “The right to vacation is a fundamental right above all for these people” living with handicaps The fire was the deadliest in France since an August 2016 fire that killed 14 people in a basement nightclub in the city of Rouen AP writer Youcef Bounab and Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed to this story Aug 9 (EFE).- Firefighters have found nine bodies and were searching for two other people who are feared dead after a fire broke out on Wednesday at a holiday home in eastern France “We are looking for the remains of people who could not leave the building” Hauwiller explained that the fire completely burned down a large part of the building and that the second floor collapsed making the rubble “unstable” and hampering the search for the last two bodies The deaths were caused by the building’s collapse Twenty-eight members of a group of people with learning disabilities and their supervisors from the city of Nancy were staying at the hostel French prime minister Élisabeth Borne and the Minister of Solidarity and Families went to the site of the disaster to follow the recovery of the bodies and to speak with the families of the victims as well as to set up a center for psychological care for the families and survivors Interior minister Gérald Darmanin praised the “rapid and courageous 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2025."> Pixels Subscribers only Golden Owl solution is revealed but leaves players of 31-year hunt disappointed Pixels Subscribers only Secrets of decades-long Golden Owl treasure hunt to be revealed Lifestyle Inside Chanel's French leather workshops Culture Subscribers only The marvelous bronzes of Angkor on display at the Musée Guimet in Paris The origin of the fire in the Alsatian village is still unknown Investigators will have to determine whether safety rules were respected By Luc Bronner (Wintzenheim (east France) special correspondent) and Stéphanie Wenger (Strasbourg (France) special correspondent) Alsatian firefighters on the scene of the fire at the Wintzenheim lodge SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP The clergy was delivering words of appeasement and recollection in the large church of Wintzenheim Father Albert Nouati looked for words to express the solidarity of a small Alsatian village on the outskirts of Colmar following the loss that very morning of eleven people burnt alive in a fire in a lodge where they had come to spend a vacation accompanied by activity organizers "We are here to stand together in this time of trial Our silence is a cry," explained the parish priest during an ecumenical ceremony attended by several dozen local residents Two pastors and a representative of the local Jewish community stood at his side The gendarmes and the justice system will have to understand the chain of circumstances that led to what Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called an "appalling tragedy." She visited the scene in the afternoon about the fire itself: "For the time being the origin appears to be a smoldering fire," said Colmar’s vice prosecutor The magistrate explained to Le Monde that she had no indication as to whether the fire was accidental or arson You have 81.51% of this article left to read Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur En cliquant sur « Continuer à lire ici » et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez mais en les utilisant à des moments différents Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article merci de contacter notre service commercial