ali2005
27/08/2005, 9:26 AM
A BLAZE killed 17 people — including 14 children — as they slept in an overcrowded apartment block early yesterday.
One mother lost four of her six kids in the fire.
The rundown, seven-storey building in Paris was being used to house 130 African immigrants.
Some flats had as many as 12 people crammed into three rooms.
France’s Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said after visiting the scene: “We just saw the bodies of seven children who were asphyxiated. It’s an abominable spectacle.” Police said 28 people were injured.
It will put massive pressure on the French government and local authorities to review their housing policies.
Only four months ago 24 people — including several children — died in a blaze in a Paris hotel used as a temporary home for immigrants.
Most of yesterday’s victims were from the west African nation of Mali. Others were from Senegal, Ghana and Tunisia. A criminal investigation was underway last night.
One mother lost four of her six kids in the fire.
The rundown, seven-storey building in Paris was being used to house 130 African immigrants.
Some flats had as many as 12 people crammed into three rooms.
France’s Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said after visiting the scene: “We just saw the bodies of seven children who were asphyxiated. It’s an abominable spectacle.” Police said 28 people were injured.
It will put massive pressure on the French government and local authorities to review their housing policies.
Only four months ago 24 people — including several children — died in a blaze in a Paris hotel used as a temporary home for immigrants.
Most of yesterday’s victims were from the west African nation of Mali. Others were from Senegal, Ghana and Tunisia. A criminal investigation was underway last night.