11 Killed In French Disabilities Home
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
PARIS (Worthy News) – French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday his thoughts are with victims and survivors after a massive fire raged through a vacation home for adults with disabilities killed 11 people.
“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,” wrote Macron on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter.
Nathalie Kielwasser, the deputy prosecutor for the Colmar area, said 11 people sleeping on the upper floor and in a mezzanine area of the private accommodation in the town of Wintzenheim were trapped by the fire.
Only five managed to escape, she said.
Twelve people who were staying on the ground floor were able to evacuate, Kielwasser added.
The adults, who had “slight intellectual disabilities,” were on vacation sponsored by two specialized associations, the deputy prosecutor stressed.
The blaze is the deadliest house fire in France since 2019 when an arson attack in a posh Paris district killed 10 people and injured 32.
An investigation into the fire has been opened by the gendarmerie in Strasbourg.