PARIS (Reuters) -As many as 11 people were feared to have been killed in a fire on Wednesday at a holiday home for disabled people in eastern France, local authorities said.
“We’re almost certain of the death of the missing people,” senior local official Christophe Marot said at the site of the fire, France 3 TV reported.
“We’re cautious until we’ve located all the bodies,” he added.
France 3 said the missing included 10 adults with disabilities and one staff member. The holiday home located in the town of Wintzenheim, about 70 km (50 miles) south of Strasbourg, was rented by a charity that takes care of people with learning disabilities, France 3 said.
BFM TV quoted a police source as saying a drone had located three bodies. Wintzenheim deputy mayor Daniel Leroy told the news channel that those missing were likely to be aged between 25 to 50.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin also said, without giving details, that there were likely to be several casualties after the fire ravaged about two-thirds of the building. Rescue operations were still going on, he said.
Seventeen people were evacuated, one of whom was sent to hospital, the local prefecture said. It said that those missing were from a group of people from the city of Nancy, a two-hour drive away.
The fire broke out at 6.30 a.m. (0430GMT) and fire fighters quickly put it out, the prefecture said.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said she was headed to the site.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones,” she posted on social media.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Charlotte Van Campenhout; Writing by Ingrid Melander, editing by Silvia Aloisi and Angus MacSwan)
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