Alsace: Public prosecutor's office launches investigation on suspicion of negligent homicide after Brabd

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Emergency vehicle at the scene of the fire in Wintzenheim: For eleven people, every rescue came too late

Photo: IMAGO/Voegtlin Vincent/ABACA / IMAGO/ABACAPRESS

Following the fire at a holiday home in Alsace that killed several people, the public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation on suspicion of negligent homicide and negligent bodily injury. It is possible that certain safety regulations have not been complied with, the authority in Paris said.

Now the cause of the fire must first be determined. Because of the scale of the investigation and because the victims came from all over France, the case is not being dealt with by the local authority, but by a special unit in Paris.

17 people were able to save themselves

On Wednesday morning around 6.30 a.m., there was a fire in the holiday home in Wintzenheim, about 50 kilometers from Freiburg. At the time, there were two groups of people with mild mental disabilities in the house. 17 people were able to save themselves, one of them was injured. Eleven people died. According to media reports, ten of the victims come from Lorraine in eastern France, while one victim came from Alsace.

As the regional newspaper »Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace« reported, there are several holiday accommodations on the site in the Wintzenheim district of La Forge. The former agricultural building, which had burned, had been rebuilt from 2017 onwards. On the ground floor there was an accommodation, on the upper floor another with eight rooms, the paper reported, citing earlier Internet advertisements of the hostel, some of which can no longer be found. "So there were two shelters in the building that burned," the newspaper summed up. According to the prosecutor's office, a total of 28 people were accommodated there.

Buildings may still be registered for agricultural purposes

Currently, investigators assume that there has been a smoldering fire. The accommodation consists partly of half-timbering, it said. The wood probably only really caught fire after a few hours. About 300 out of 500 square meters burned.

French media reported on Thursday that the accommodation in Wintzenheim may not have had sufficient or the right fire alarms. According to the French authorities, establishments that receive guests are responsible for complying with safety rules. This is checked by various controls. The deputy mayor of Wintzenheim, Daniel Leroy, said the building was still registered for agricultural purposes and should not have received guests.

bbr/dpa