One person died and another was hospitalized in serious condition after jumping from a burning apartment building in Saint-Nazaire, Loire-Atlantique, the owner of which was taken into police custody, the lord has learned. 'AFP this Tuesday from corroborating sources.
An investigation for "manslaughter" and "unintentional injuries" was entrusted to the judicial police, according to the prosecutor of Saint-Nazaire, Sylvie Canovas-Lagarde.
One dead and one seriously injured in a fire in #saintnazaire pic.twitter.com/a4cYcTr71d
- Frédéric Salle (@Frederisco) November 16, 2021
Hearings of witnesses, residents and occupants of the building "are in progress" but the search for possible other victims has been interrupted, she said at the end of the day.
"The very degraded conditions inside the building do not allow the progress of help and investigators for the moment," added the magistrate.
A building hit by "poverty and delinquency"
The balance sheet could thus increase, warned the mayor of Saint-Nazaire, David Samzun, during a press conference, referring to an “overoccupied” building.
Struck by a municipal decree in May after a first outbreak of fire, the owner of the building had carried out work to bring it up to standard.
But at the beginning of July, around thirty residents had sent a letter to the prosecutor of Saint-Nazaire in which they were worried about the “potential drama that a fire could cause in this building” or “misery and delinquency”, in particular linked to drugs. , " hang out ".
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The owner of the building, who reported to the Saint-Nazaire police station, was taken into custody, police said.
According to the firefighters, “the first crew, arrived at 6:45 am, noted the presence of two victims on the ground who had defused themselves.
One of them died, the other, in absolute urgency, was transported to the hospital center of Saint-Nazaire ”.
Firefighters reported a third victim "slightly injured", who did not require hospitalization.
The disaster broke out early Tuesday morning on the second and last floor of the building.
83 firefighters attended.
