France opens manslaughter investigation after 11 die in fire at home for disabled adults

A French prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation Friday for unvoluntary manslaughter aggravated by breach of safety rules after 11 people died this week in a fire that broke out at a vacation home for adults with disabilities. 

The blaze in Wintzenheim on Wednesday killed 10 adults, who Colmar deputy prosecutor Nathalie Kielwasser said had “slight intellectual disabilities” and one person accompanying them. 

“The first investigations led to question the legal and material safety conditions of the building,” read a statement issued Friday by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, which has taken over the case because of the high number of victims and scale of the probe, according to The Associated Press. 

The fire was the deadliest in France since August 2016, when 14 people died in a blaze inside a basement nightclub in the city of Rouen 

11 DEAD IN FRANCE AFTER FIRE ERUPTS AT VACATION HOME FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES 

The fire is seen raging at a vacation home in the town of Wintzenheim, France, on Wednesday, Aug. 9. (TNN/dpa via AP)

Kielwasser previously said the 11 people who were sleeping on the upper floor and in a mezzanine area of the private accommodation became trapped in the fire, while five managed to escape. Twelve people who were staying on the ground floor were able to evacuate, she said. 

The adults were on a vacation sponsored by two specialized associations, she added.  

Kielwasser was quoted by the AFP, saying that “The lodging had not undergone the safety inspection which is obligatory” and “did not have the characteristics needed to host the public.”  

“If you want to drive a car, you need a license. If you want to host people, you have to pass this inspection which then tells you how many people you can host and so forth. We impose a certain number of rules for the sake of safety,” she said, according to the AFP.  

HAWAII WILDFIRES: LAHAINA WAS A VACATION PARADISE BEFORE TRAGEDY STRUCK 

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne speaks with officials as she visits the site where a fire erupted at a holiday home for disabled people in Wintzenheim, France, on Wednesday, Aug. 9. (Sebastien Bozon, Pool Photo via AP)

“The smoke detectors were up to standard, but they are not the type of smoke detectors that are placed in properties hosting the public,” she reportedly added.  

Images taken at the scene showed flames tearing through the upper parts of the vacation home. 

French prosecutors say the owner of the property, who lives across the street, alerted authorities about the blaze and heard screams coming from the home.  

Many of the visitors came from the eastern French city of Nancy, The Associated Press reported. 

The fire erupted around 6:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday before it eventually was brought under control. (TNN/dpa via AP)

The fire broke out around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, the news agency added, noting that it took 76 firefighters and four fire engines to contain the blaze, while four ambulances and 40 police officers were mobilized as well.  

The Associated Press contributed to this report.