two dead and five people hospitalized after the fire of a small building

Two people, still unidentified, were found dead after the fire in a two-storey apartment building early Sunday July 16 in Lens, Pas-de-Calais, firefighters said. The firefighters were called at 4:32 a.m. rue Pasteur, in the city center, “for a second floor apartment fire”which had spread to the roof, reported a spokesperson for the departmental fire and rescue operational center (CODIS).

The two bodies were discovered in the rubble on the second floor, “a priori a man and a woman of indeterminate age”, he continued. Five people were rescued and taken to hospital, four of whom were bothered by the fumes, and one person with foot trauma. Two other people, unharmed, were left behind, he said.

The origin of the fire is unknown at this stage. Contacted by AFP, the Béthune prosecution did not wish to communicate immediately. “The rapid intervention of firefighters”notably by means of three lances and two aerial ladders, “have prevented a spread to adjoining houses”, the firefighters said in a statement. A total of 45 firefighters were mobilized to the incident.