[gatagato]

Four others critically injured, as 100 firefighters contain blaze at five-storey building in 18th arrondissement in north of the city

French police have launched a criminal investigation after a fire in a residential building in the north of Paris left at least eight people dead in one of the city’s worst fires for a decade.

The fire began overnight in a five-storey residential building in the Goutte d’Or neighbourhood in the north of the city, killing at least eight, including reportedly two children.

The eight victims included two who died after they attempted to escape through windows, according to police. At least four others were left injured and in a critical condition.

A criminal investigation was launched after it emerged that there had been two different fires, one which began at around 2am and was put out, and another which started at around 4.30am, according to French media reports.

Interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said firefighters had earlier in the night extinguished a small paper fire in the building, but were called back two hours later to tackle a new fire.

The second fire is believed to have started the ground floor before spreading into the stairwell.
At the height of the blaze, around 100 firefighters were on the scene, at rue Myrha in the 18th arrondissement. The fire service declared that it had the blaze under control at around 7.30 am (05.30 GMT).

Local residents posted images of the fire, showing flames bursting from the roof and upper storeys of the building.


French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve and the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, were at the scene early on Wednesday morning as the city woke to news of the fatalities.

Cazeneuve told reporters it was “too early to determine the causes of this tragedy” and said an investigation by criminal prosecutors was underway.

“Paris is bereaved this morning,” Hidalgo said, adding that as many as 15 properties might have been damaged in the blaze.

She said the building had been in a good condition before the fire. The property was a residential building which had not had problems before, Hidalgo said, adding that it was not a building for low-income families and had not been in an insalubrious state.

People who were unable to return to their homes were being assisted by the authorities, the mayor said.

http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-diver...15-5054797.php
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ultiple-deaths

[Azimuth]

Hmm... this could be interesting, I think.

[Morbid75]

Definitely a firebug. Those are some strange and dangerous people. I remember there was this terrible fire in the city where my husband was a LEO that killed three fireman.

They investigated it and did find this weirdo firebug that was recording the fire then pointing the camera down to his crotch where he was rubbing himself and making sexual like noises. It turns out it was an accidental fire and the firebug was just a weirdo.

[TheVrist]

Probably part of the cultural enrichment they are getting right now.

[winvens]

[gatagato]

Update:

Man arrested over deadly Paris apartment fire

A fire in an apartment building in the north of Paris early on Wednesday morning killed eight people, including two children. A criminal investigation has been launched and one man has been arrested on suspicion of arson.
Police revealed later on Wednesday that a man aged in his 30s was being held in connection with the blaze.

Police arrested a man in his 30s "who might have been at the scene" of the fire, a source at the Paris prosecutor's office said, although he stressed the investigation was at an early stage.

The arrest was made on the basis of eyewitness accounts and CCTV footage, the source added.

[winvens]

morbid75 called it.

[vipersna]

Fire's an awful way to go.

[Azimuth]

Originally Posted by TheVrist ↗

Probably part of the cultural enrichment they are getting right now.

This is exactly what I had feared.

I've read that a man has been arrested and that he is in his thirties and is already known to police, per the BBC, but they didn't ID him. So, who knows what the motivation for this crime is.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34125660

[Oswald2001]

Which terrorist mosques did he attend?