Voice
9, International Desk: On Wednesday, authorities in the town of Winzheim in eastern
France reported that 11 people were missing after a fire broke out at a holiday
home hosting a group of handicapped individuals. The structure was destroyed by
fire. According to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, there were likely a
number of victims.
Darmanin
tweeted that "early this morning, a fire broke out in a facility for
disabled people" in the small hamlet adjacent to Colmar, close to the
French-German border.
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Despite
the fire department's prompt and valiant response, he stated, "Several
casualties are reported."
The
fire started at around 6:30 a.m. (0430 UTC/GMT) local time; the adults staying
at the cottage had been on vacation from the nearby city of Nancy. Forty police
officers were also mobilized, and the fire department sent scores of
firefighters and four fire trucks to contain the fire, as well as several
ambulances to treat the victims. Seventeen people were successfully evacuated
from the center, including one person who was hospitalized in a "relative
emergent" condition.
A
total of seventeen people, including one who was hospitalized in a
"relative emergency," were successfully evacuated from the center.
Despite being swiftly put out, the prefecture reported that around 300 square
meters (or 3,300 square feet) of the 500-square-meter house had burned.