A violent fire triggered by an explosion in three buildings killed several people in this small town in the Pyrénées-Orientales, on the night of Sunday to Monday.
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An eighth body was extracted from the rubble of one of the buildings ravaged the day before by a fire in Saint-Laurent-de-Salanque (Pyrénées-Orientales), reported the prosecutor of Perpignan, Tuesday, February 15. After the discovery on Monday of seven dead, including two young children, firefighters were looking for a 66-year-old woman, the last person missing following this fire which occurred overnight from Sunday to Monday.
During the night of Sunday to Monday, around 1:30 a.m., an explosion damaged several businesses and apartments, then reached by the flames. A baby a few months old and a two-year-old child are among the eight dead, surprised in their sleep. A man, who jumped from the 2nd floor to escape the flames, was seriously injured.
An investigation was opened on Monday. As soon as the fire was brought under control, gendarmes carried out observations and samples. They were joined by specialists from the National Gendarmerie Criminal Research Institute (IRCGN) and fire experts. The investigation will have to specify if gas cylinders, stored at the grocery store, are at the origin of the drama.