SEVEN PEOPLE were killed and 11 seriously injured in a fire at a hostel for immigrant workers in the French city of Dijon yesterday.
The fire began in a rubbish bin on the ground floor of the nine-storey building early yesterday morning, the mayor’s office said.
“The winds were unfavourable, blowing the flames against the wall of the building,” an official said.
Some of the victims suffered smoke inhalation and others were injured trying to escape, with some jumping out of windows. Four people were in a critical condition yesterday.
Of the seven victims, all of whom were aged between 40 and 60, one reportedly died after jumping from the seventh floor and the six others suffocated.
Three had French nationality, two were Senegalese, one was Algerian and one Vietnamese, the office of the local prefect said.
The residence can accommodate 180 residents. At the time of the fire, 141 people were inside the building, with 21 children among the injured.
The Dijon prosecutor yesterday began an inquiry to establish the cause of the fire, which affected “one or more bins” for reasons unknown.
Immigration minister Éric Besson said he was shocked by the deaths and extended his “compassion and solidarity” to the victims’ families.
“Last night’s fire shocks me particularly because it affected people and families that France has welcomed, and who were bringing to our country not only their work but also the richness of their cultures and origins.”
Mr Besson said the French state had undertaken a major regeneration of migrant workers’ hostels, at at cost of €1 billion, over the past decade.
The centre where the fire broke out was one of the first to benefit from this plan, he added.