Two men have been charged and remanded in custody after a fire in central Clermont-Ferrand killed four people, the local prosecutor's office announced on Sunday, 1 November. A 21-year-old man accused of being at the origin of the blaze was placed under formal investigation, notably for destruction of another person's property by a dangerous means causing death, deputy prosecutor Laure Moisset said in a statement.
The 21-year-old was arrested and taken into custody on Friday morning, only hours after the fire began, according to the account given by the prosecutor's office. A second man, aged 20, presented himself at the Clermont-Ferrand police station on Saturday at around 8 p.m.; Moisset said he had been at the first man's side when the fire was set. He was charged with voluntarily abstaining from preventing a crime or offence against a person's physical integrity and was also remanded in custody. The prosecutor's office gave no details about the sequence of events or the motives of the person accused of starting the fire.
The fire broke out at around 3 a.m. on Friday in a five-storey residential building in the heart of the city, next to other buildings in a narrow dead-end street that made access difficult for emergency vehicles. According to the city hall, two apartments were on fire when firefighters arrived. The blaze then reached the roof and caused the fourth and fifth floors to collapse; the building's staircase also collapsed.
In an initial provisional toll, the prefecture said six people had been affected by smoke and one had escaped by jumping from the window of their apartment. Six people with light injuries were hospitalised. On Friday evening, firefighters were able to enter the building with search dogs and a specialised unit for searches in collapsed or weakened environments. They found three bodies during the night and a fourth on Saturday.
The prosecutor's office said on Friday that while the exact circumstances remained to be established, the first findings of investigators suggested a possible criminal origin. As a precaution, buildings adjoining the damaged block were evacuated and about 30 residents were taken care of by the municipal authorities, according to the city hall. A medico-psychological emergency unit was set up.
Sources: Le Monde Politique.