Seven dead in apartment fire in Nice - Probably arson
According to authorities' reports, three masked individuals are visible in images from a surveillance camera just before the fire broke out. The fire then started in the second floor stairwell and spread through a ventilation shaft to the top floor. A ten-person family from the Comoros had been living in the affected apartment. Three Children died in the fire, a 17-year-old perished from jumping out of a window.
Three people were injured, one of whom is critical. The 47-year-old had also jumped out of a window to escape the flames.
More than 70 firefighters were on the scene. With ladder trucks, they rescued around 30 residents, including three from the affected apartment. Prefect Hugues Moutouh reported that the mother of the affected family had taken the three survivors to the window but then went back to retrieve the other children. She died in the process. The prosecutor's office is investigating arson with fatalities.
The ten-person Comoros family had several bags packed, ready for a move, as reported by a neighbor. The affected apartment, where the fire started, was advertised online by the Brand Foundation as a nice and cozy living space. It's probably due to the smoke that the surveillance camera's images were unclear, making it difficult to identify the three masked individuals.
