According to the prefecture, 11 people would have “potentially” died in the fire of a lodging in Wintzenheim (Haut-Rhin), this Wednesday, August 9, 2023. At least nine people were found dead, two are still wanted, even there was a question of the discovery of a tenth body around 2 p.m.
[Updated August 9, 2023 at 2:24 p.m.] The 11 people missing are believed to have died, according to the prefecture. Shortly before 2 p.m., the information that a tenth lifeless body was discovered, was spinning. It was eventually refuted by Lt. Col. Philippe Hauwiller for whom, at this point, only nine bodies have been found. Three could then be extracted, six others only located, Le Parisien reported at noon. Two people are therefore still missing.
Earlier in the morning, a few hours after the fire in a lodging in Wintzenheim (Haut-Rhin), the 11 people who had not come out of the flames in time had been declared “potentially deceased” by the prefecture, confirming the first information provided by Gérald Darmanin. “The search is continuing”, confided to France 3 Christophe Marot, Secretary General of the Haut-Rhin prefecture, adding: “We are almost sure of the death of the missing people. We are careful until we have located all bodies.”
While 17 people were evacuated at the time of the fire, 11 were still missing by mid-morning. At 10:45 a.m., Les Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace reported that several bodies had been located. According to information from Le Parisien, disclosed at the stroke of noon, nine lifeless bodies had been found by the emergency services at noon. In detail, the daily claimed that three bodies had been extracted from the rubble and six others had been spotted. Two people are still wanted.
The victims are part of a group of disabled people from Nancy. It would be nine adults with mild mental disabilities and two companions. They are aged 27 to 50, according to the deputy mayor of Wintzenheim who spoke at the microphone of BFMTV.
In addition, a person in relative emergency was evacuated to the hospital and a shocked person was taken care of. It could be the owner of the premises, still according to The Latest News from Alsace. It was she who gave the alert after discovering her establishment on fire. She would also have evacuated as many people as possible.
All were staying on the edge of the RD 417, near the educational and pedagogical therapeutic institute (Itep) of La Forge. In the sector, traffic was still disrupted at midday, according to France 3. At the start of the afternoon, BFMTV indicated that the RD 417 was closed to traffic and that a diversion had been put in place. place.
A violent fire broke out in the Haut-Rhin, early this Wednesday, August 9, 2023, in the town of Wintzenheim, west of Colmar. A cottage welcoming people with disabilities caught fire around 6:30 a.m., revealed France 3 Grand-Est. The fire is now extinguished. And if the last assessment of the prefecture reported that 300m² had been ravaged by flames, the deputy mayor of Wintzenheim, Daniel Leroy, affirmed shortly before noon at the microphone of BFMTV that “the building is completely destroyed” and that “everything has burned in the floors”.
According to information collected by France 3, the establishment would be an old renovated barn. The fire, the origin of which has not yet been revealed, reportedly broke out on the first floor of the gîte. It seems that the victims would be the people who were staying upstairs, those on the ground floor having managed to extract themselves at so much. Regarding the origin of the start of the fire, “a research section is on site to start the judicial investigation under the authority of the deputy prosecutor”, said the Haut-Rhin prefecture.
Asked by France 3, a neighbor of the place recounted the horror of this morning of August 9. “I was woken up by my partner who was taking the dog out, he came to get me saying, ‘I heard screaming, it’s burning,'” she recalled, referring to “a lot of flames” and a “large cloud of smoke”. And the one who was struck by the speed of the spread of the fire to continue: “My spouse told me that he had seen people outside. We thought that the people had come out. According to her, the firefighters would have quickly arrived at the scene of the tragedy.
According to The latest news from Alsace, significant resources have been deployed to put an end to the fire. The firefighters deployed no less than 76 men to the scene, as well as four fire engines, three ladders, five lances, four ambulances, but also an advanced medical post, according to the press release from the prefecture. Forty gendarmes were also requisitioned. A canine team is now involved in the excavations. BFM Alsace adds that the research brigade of Colmar and the research section of Strasbourg have started the research work. On site, the services of the prefecture have set up a reception service to receive families who would like to go to the site.
Very early this morning, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin spoke about the tragedy. “A fire took place early this morning in a structure welcoming disabled people in Wintzenheim, in the Haut-Rhin”, he explained on X (ex-Twitter). And to specify: “Despite the rapid and courageous intervention of the firefighters whom I salute, several victims are to be deplored.”
In the process, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne had indicated on the social network to go there with the Minister of Solidarity and Families, Aurore Bergé. For his part, President Emmanuel Macron lamented a “tragedy”. “My thoughts go out to the victims, to the injured, to their loved ones. Thank you to our security forces and our mobilized rescue services,” added the head of state on X.
At the end of the morning, the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, expressed her “emotion”. “My thoughts to the victims and their families. I give my full support to the emergency services for their intervention in a difficult context”, she indicated on X. “Faced with the tragedy of Wintzenheim, I want to say my emotion, my sadness and address my thoughts to the victims, their families and the staff of the center”, for his part reacted Franck Leroy, DVD president of the Grand Est region on X also. The City of Nancy, where the victims are from, also had a word on the social network for the victims and their relatives, as well as for the relief.
After the arrival of Elisabeth Borne and Aurore Bergé from this Wednesday, August 9, TF1 Info understands that Fadila Khattabi, the Minister Delegate for People with Disabilities will also visit the scene of the tragedy, in Wintzenheim, on the day of Thursday, August 10.
