Firefighters are seen near a building that caught fire in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, on February 5, 2019. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP)
PARIS — A fire in a Paris apartment building early Tuesday killed seven people and sent residents fleeing to the roof or climbing out their windows to escape, authorities said. The cause of the blaze that injured 28 people is unclear.
Firefighters were still searching for other victims and working to extinguish the blaze, according to spokesman Clement Cognon of the city fire service.
He told The Associated Press that the fire broke out early Tuesday in the eight-story apartment building on Rue Erlanger in the 16th arrondissement, or district.
“The situation was already dramatic when the firefighters arrived,” Cognon said. Firefighters rescued about two dozen people who had fled to the roof or climbed out windows to escape the flames, and evacuated others from inside.
Fire service spokesman Clement Cognon speaks to the press after a building caught fire in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, on February 5, 2019. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP)
The building is about one kilometer (less than a mile) from the Roland Garros stadium that hosts the French Open tennis tournament, and close to the popular Bois de Boulogne park on the city’s western edge. The 16th arrondissement is one of the most high-end and calmest districts of Paris.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
More than 200 firefighters and emergency workers are on the scene, Paris police said, and the street is blocked off. People in neighboring buildings were also evacuated.
The fire comes a month after a deadly explosion and blaze linked to a gas leak in a Paris bakery.
Advertisement
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
