At least seven killed in blast in southwestern France
PARIS: At least seven people, including two children, were reported dead in a building blast and fire in southwestern France, the country’s interior minister announced on Monday. The blast occurred in the town of Saint Laurent de la Salanque in the Pyrenees-Orientales region on the border with Spain.
One of the victims of the blaze that started in a three-storey building in the coastal town of Saint Lautrent de la Salanque was reported to be a baby.
Gerald Darminian, the French Interior Minister, was on an official visit to police in Montpellier, 96 miles (155km) from the tragedy, was expected to visit the scene on Monday afternoon.
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He confirmed the provisional death toll of seven people including two children but added: “Unfortunately, the work of the firefighters and other services is not finished so this may not be definite.”
Jean Castex, the French Prime Minister, also offered his condolences to the victim’s families and friends and praised the work of the emergency services who he said were working “in difficult circumstances.”
According to the French media, the blast happened around 1:30 a.m. local time and was believed to have started on the ground floor, which housed a grocery store and a fast-food take-away. Flames quickly wrapped up the whole building as well as two neighbouring properties.
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The firefighters have cleared two of the buildings but said that the third remained too dangerous to enter.
Jean-David Cavaille, the Perpignan public prosecutor, said that the emergency services were still searching for a family thought to be in the building but who may not be present. The search was being hampered because temperatures in the building remained high and several floors were destroyed, he said, adding that the death toll may rise in future.
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