Officials said a fire broke out Saturday in a building in a northern Paris suburb, killing three women and wounding seven others, including a toddler in critical condition.
The fire began at 2:00 a.m. (0100 GMT) on the ground floor of a building in Stains, an immigrant-majority town approximately 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Paris.
According to investigators, the three women fatalities were born in Haiti and included a woman who was a renter on the third floor, her sister, and a friend who had lingered over after a family supper. Overnight, firefighters discovered their bodies.
The officials stated, “The badly injured youngster with second and third-degree burns is a six-year-old boy who lived on the first floor with his parents and a two-year-old sister, who were also hurt”.
Twenty-four fire engines and 88 firefighters fought the blaze, and one firefighter was slightly hurt.
The building’s other residents were evacuated and given shelter in a sports hall.
According to the mayor, Azzedine Taibi, the building was scheduled for renovations, and its estimated 15 residents were scheduled to relocate to temporary housing on Wednesday.
“The building was not going to collapse”, a local councilor remarked, “but various works had to be done”.
An investigation into the cause of the fire has begun.
