a building in Saint-Denis ravaged by a deadly fire

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A. Lay, H.-C. Elma, W. Fontaine, J.-R. Ramsamy, A. Catherine, Réunion La 1ère, P. Brame – France 3

France Televisions

An impressive fire destroyed an entire building in Saint-Denis in Reunion Island on the night of Sunday 12 to Monday 13 December. The toll is heavy: at least five people have been killed, two other victims are in a state of emergency, a dozen others are injured.

On a stretcher, the firefighters transport the last victim of a fire. In the Montgaillard district in Saint-Denis de La Réunion, thick black smoke still escapes from the building, which turned into a gigantic blaze around 1 a.m. on Monday, December 13. A hundred apartments are reduced to a heap of ashes and charred tin. On a video, the inhabitants took refuge on the roof, and called for help.

The firefighters find it difficult to rescue them. All the access walkways and the stairs are flooded with fire. In all, 300 residents were evacuated, some using ropes and large ladders. “We had to evacuate everyone, put on water so that the fire did not enter our home”, says a resident. In haste, a gymnasium was requisitioned to accommodate 200 disaster victims. They have something to eat, something to dress, little comfort after having lost everything. The origin of the fire is not yet known, an investigation has been opened by the Saint-Denis prosecutor’s office.

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