Survivors' night of horror
2005-09-04 23:02
L'Hay-Les-Roses - Shocked survivors of a fire that killed 15 people in an apartment building near Paris a few hours earlier, told on Sunday how residents had wanted to jump from windows and how thick choking smoke had woken them.
At least three children were among the dead and more than 30 were injured in the fire in a southern Paris suburb early on Sunday - the third fatal fire to hit the French capital in nine days.
The blaze broke out in the hall of an 18-storey high rise containing about 110 local authority flats near Orly airport.
"People were wanting to throw themselves from windows - there were firefighters taking away bodies," said one resident.
In the hours before dawn refugees from the blaze huddled behind a safety barrier watching with horror the rescue services bringing out the dead.
Long black streaks could be seen just above the entry hall of the building, which unlike those in recent fatal central Paris fires was relatively modern and seemingly in good condition.
Sobbing families were escorted by fire-fighters to an emergency reception centre set up in a local sports centre where they were given counselling.
As the hours passed and it began to appear that the fire had been started deliberately, the grief of local people turned to anger.
"It seems that three girls were playing with an inflammable liquid at the entrance," said Mane, 50.
"It keeps on happening: when they're not setting dustbins alight, they're setting fire to the rubbish chute or cars, it was bound to happen," he said, pointing the finger at "kids hanging around all the time".
Others pointed to the age of the building. "The only emergency exit was where the fire was. How do you get out?" asked Herve Douin.
- AFP