Migrants missing after fire at camp

French officials investigate blaze which broke out after rival groups fought

GRANDE-SYNTHE, France — Authorities and aid workers are searching for several hundred migrants who disappeared after a fire ravaged their camp in northern France, a shocking blaze that exposed anew the challenges and tensions around Europe’s migrants just 12 days before France’s presidential election.

Police cordoned off the largely destroyed camp in the Dunkirk suburb of Grande-Synthe on Tuesday and investigators inspected the site to try to determine the cause of the Monday night blaze, which broke out following a fight between rival groups of migrants.

Most of the camp near the English Channel is now reduced to the charred remains of wooden shelters and sparse belongings of the migrants, who converged on northern France in hopes of reaching Britain as part of waves of recent migration to Europe.

As many as 1,600 people were in the camp when the fire broke out, according to officials. Some 500 were taken to three local gymnasiums, but most of the other migrants remain unaccounted-for, reporters were told.

It’s a sensitive subject in France ahead of the two-round April 23-May 7 presidential election in which immigration is a key issue.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and conservative candidate François Fillon reiterated calls Tuesday for stricter border controls.

PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Migrants evacuate as a huge fire rages through the Grande-Synthe migrant camp outside Dunkirk, France, on April 10. Firefighters said at least 10 people had been injured in the blaze at the camp, which was home to some 1,500 people.