At least 10 dead, five of them children, in the fire of a residential building in Lyon

At least 10 people have died, including five childrenin the fire of a residential building in the town of Vaulx-en-Velin, on the outskirts of lyons (France). The deceased children were between three and 15 years old.

The police have opened an investigation into the origin and causes of the fire and does not rule out the criminal trail.

The death toll, published by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes prefecture, could increase as there are four people in very serious condition, according to the emergency services. There are another 10 people slightly injured, including two firefighters who intervened on the scene.

The fire broke out in a seven story building around three in the morning this Friday. The fire started on the ground floor and spread to the upper floors. Although it has already been extinguished, its origin is unknown and an investigation has already been opened.

In a statement published this Friday, the Prosecutor’s Office indicates that the management services in the Judicial Police area are in charge of the investigation, which must determine the circumstances and causes of the fire and that “No hypothesis is ruled out, in particular the criminal trail.”

The police have cordoned off the area and established a security perimeter in which 170 firefighters and various teams from the emergency services work.

“Save my children”

A witness to the fire told BFM television that he managed to bring a ladder to the front of the building through which around twenty people were able to flee.

Another witness pointed out as possible culprits to alleged drug traffickers who illegally occupied homes, something that is common in the ground floors of buildings in winter in the area.

Both reported that they could hear children crying and the voices of adults shouting “save my children”.

Speaking to the regional newspaper le progresses, some inhabitants accused the camels who allegedly occupied and used the basement of this apartment building in Mas le Taureau, a popular neighborhood of Vauxl en Velin, a city of about 50,000 inhabitants on the outskirts of Lyon, for drug dealing.

A neighbor, who identified himself as Sami, complained that, according to his version, those responsible want to hide that the event “comes from the trading point on the ground floor. That’s where the fire started. I have seen children jump off the balcony. It was horrible”.