Ski resort fire kills two and injures 22 others
TWO PEOPLE were killed and 22 others injured in a large blaze that broke out in the French ski resort of Courchevel, officials said.
Authorities in the Savoie region said the blaze started at 4.30am local time yesterday in a building housing seasonal workers in the heart of the Alpine town.
Among the injured, four have been seriously wounded. The fire also forced 60 people to be evacuated from the building.
The cause of the fire and the identity of the victims were not known.
Seventy firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control. Footage from the scene showed fire crews using ladders to try to rescue people from inside the three-storey building.
One video, posted on social media, showed at least one person jumping from an upper floor window in an attempt to escape the blaze.
Local media reports said the building housed about 60 resort workers, including foreigners.
Three of the four seriously injured were taken to hospital by helicopter, local officials said.
The accommodation at the centre of the fire was situated above a Chanel store.
Frédéric Loiseau, a local government official, told French broadcaster BFMTV that the identities of those killed had not yet been established.
“In the case of those seriously injured, it’s impossible to specify whether their injuries came from a fall. Because the fire was on the third floor, some people jumped to save their lives,” he said.
“There were carbon monoxide emissions, and there were burns.”
He added that prosecutors and police would launch an investigation into what started the fire.