Eleven missing after fire at vacation home for people with disabilities in France, officials say

Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on August 9, 2023

(LONDON) — Eleven people are missing after a fire engulfed a vacation home for people with disabilities in eastern France on Wednesday morning, officials said.

The blaze broke out around 6:30 a.m. local time at a private accommodation in the French town of Wintzenheim, near the border with Germany. It wasn’t long before “violent flames” enveloped about 300 square meters (3,200 square feet) of the 500 square meter (5,400 square foot) structure, according to a press release from the local administration of France’s Haut-Rhin region, where Wintzenheim is located.

Dozens of firefighters were deployed to the scene and the blaze “was quickly brought under control,” the Haut-Rhin prefecture said. Seventeen people were evacuated, including one person who was transported to a hospital in a “relative emergency,” according to the prefecture.

The prefecture said the house was hosting a group of adults who were visiting for the summer holidays from the French city of Nancy, about 90 miles northwest of Wintzenheim.

The group included people with disabilities and their companions, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.

“Faced with this tragedy, my thoughts go out to the victims, to the injured, to their loved ones,” Macron said in a statement posted on social media.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.