The blaze broke out in the basement of the Cuba Libre bar when a birthday cake with candles lit set fire to flammable soundproofing material in the ceiling.
Advertisement
Rouen Mayor Yvon Robert described the fire as “very brief.”: “The birthday party was “a moment of joy for those involved that. ended tragically”, he added. Some of them tried to use a fire extinguisher, but it was too late”.
One of the injured was in a critical condition, Yvan Cordier, secretary general of the Seine-Maritime prefecture, told the AFP news agency. The attackers, were both nearly 19 and were also shot dead by French police as they tried to abscond the church. The victims, aged between 18 and 25, were not immediately identified, the Paris-Normandie newspaper reported.
The fire that broke out, allegedly caused by an accidental explosion on the site unrelated to terrorism, transformed a happy occasion into a terrifying and deadly one.
An investigation is underway into the fire.
Firefighters leave after inspecting the Cuba Libre bar in Rouen.
But a source at the crisis cell of the interior ministry said that “unfortunately there are always people who try to get round the rules between safety inspections, which are sometimes pre-planned, sometimes unannounced”.
At least 13 people have died following a fire at a birthday party in the French city of Rouen.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls also posted a tweet: “Deep sadness with regard to the tragedy which claimed 13 young lives”. “I express my solidarity and compassion to the victims’ families”.
Advertisement
The view inside the bar in Rouen, France where a fire killed 13 people and injured another six on August 6, 2016. An elderly priest was killed and three others were injured after being held hostage at a Catholic church by knife-wielding attackers July 26.
