15/04/2005

20 dead in Paris hotel blaze

At least 20 people have died and around 60 people have been injured in a fire which swept through a Paris hotel early this morning.

It has been reported that ten children are among the dead and people from countries including the US, Australia, Tunisia, Portugal and Senegal are believed to be among the injured.

The fire at the one-star Paris-Opera Hotel, located close to the city’s Garnier Opera House and the Galaries Lafayette department store, broke out at around 2am local time. Firefighters finally brought the blaze under control by around 3:30am.

Seventy-six people were reported to be staying at the 32-room hotel when the fire started. Many of them were reported to be African immigrants, placed there by local authorities while they were waiting to be re-housed.

A makeshift morgue had to be set up in the Galaries Lafayette department store, and many of the injured, who were suffering from burns, smoke inhalation and shock, were also treated there. It was reported that up to 15 seriously injured people were taken to hospital.

Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen people jumping from the hotel windows.

French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin and Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe both visited the scene of the fire, which is believed to be one of the worst fires in the city for years.

It is still unclear how the fire started and an investigation is under way in order to discover the cause.

(KMcA/GB)




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