The dead were between aged between 16 and 25.
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One of the injured was in a critical condition, the secretary general of the Seine-Maritime prefecture Yvan Cordier told AFP.
Local official Laurent Labadie who was at the scene of the fire described the blaze as accidental. According to authorities, the bar was closed due to a private birthday party.
“Young people, some of them very young had their lives cut short”, said Clotilde Valter the French Junior Minister in a statement, assuring the circumstances were painful for the entire country.
The walls and low ceiling quickly ignited when the candles of the cake were lit and it fell on the floor, according to local media.
“There was an immediate ignition and spread of gas”, he added. We saw the smoke and the flames, the chairs flew up, the window.
Around 50 firemen were dispatched to the scene and extinguished the blaze within 30 minutes, the French Interior Ministry said.
An investigation is underway into the fire.
The synthetic carpet caught the fire in an instant, and then the fire developed to the plastic ceiling. “Unfortunately, those who were in the basement didn’t have time to get upstairs”.
Deputy prosecutor Labadie said autopsies on the victims would be carried out next week.
World News Online reported that a witness was able to speak to a television station in France about the birthday party fire. Rouen’s central part consists mostly of old wooden buildings. “We were afraid so we moved away”.
At least 13 persons have died in a fire incident that occurred during a party in Northern France.
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A fierce fire in a bar in Rouen raise the death toll up to 13 people.
