Fire in Grenoble: "Without us, these children would have died"

“We really saved their lives! "A few hours after the incredible rescue of two children who were able to escape a fire in Grenoble, by jumping into the arms of witnesses located ten meters below, one of the" heroes "is still in shock.

Injured during the reception of the children, the right forearm now in plaster, Athoumani Walid confides in us his emotion by remembering every minute.

This 25-year-old Comorian student, who lives in the La Villeneuve district, did not hesitate when he heard screams at midday on Tuesday and rushed towards the burning building. “I saw the two children screaming. They were at the window on the third floor. There was a lot of smoke, flames, explosions even inside the building ”, describes Athoumani Walid. “The children were scared. They were crying. The oldest of the children, who is 10 years old, shouted: We don't have the keys to go out. We don't have the keys! “, He continues adding that they were“ alone in the apartment without their parents ”.

"The bigger one blew up the smaller one"

Witnesses tried to open the apartment door to no avail. “There was too much smoke. It was impossible. With five other residents of the neighborhood, mostly young people, we then decided to stand at the foot of the building, under the window where the children were, explains the student. Because we understood that we could not wait for the arrival of the firefighters, that we had to act quickly to try to save the children. We shouted at them: Jump, jump! "

# COVID19 #accident #grenoble (This Tuesday a few hours ago in the afternoon 2 children jumped out of the window to be caught by the inhabitants ❤️🙏 pic.twitter.com/xzIYpL4b3Y

For seconds that seem endless to the inhabitants, the children hesitate. “They were afraid of jumping so high. It was 15 or 20 meters to the ground. And the taller, courageously, blew up the smaller 3-year-old he was holding at arm's length under the window. He let it go. We all stretched out our arms to receive it. And we caught him flying. The second child was then asked to jump. He hesitated, then started too. We received it. Neither of the two children was injured. We really saved their lives. Without us, they would have died ”, still trembles Athoumani Walid.

"I am proud of myself and of all those who were there"

In the neighborhood, the relief is immense. The two "miraculously" are indeed unharmed. Some of the “heroes” have some injuries. "The six people who were at the bottom of the building were injured," confirms Athoumani Walid. Me, I had a broken wrist. Another had a broken arm. Someone else had a broken hand. I am hurt, but I am proud because I saved two lives. Yes, I am very proud of myself and of all the people who were there to receive the children. We were united. We took action to save lives, ”he breathes.

Célia, a resident of the neighborhood who was the first to call the firefighters, is also still overcome with emotion after this extraordinary rescue: “It's incredible what happened. It is even a small miracle. Without this solidarity of the inhabitants of the district, the children would have died. These six people who saved the children are heroes. La Villeneuve is often singled out as a difficult neighborhood where there are problems of violence and drugs. But here, we showed that we were a united city when it was necessary to save lives. And it's really nice. We showed another image of our neighborhood ”.