10 dead in France’s worst residential fire in years

By LAURENT CIPRIANI and THOMAS ADAMSON
Associated Press

VAULX-EN-VELIN, France (AP) — Local authorities in France say 10 people, including five children, died after a nighttime fire ravaged an eight-story apartment building in one of the city of Lyon’s poorest suburbs.  local authorities said. The cause of France’s deadliest residential fire in years was under investigation on Friday. Witness reports carried on French media described residents smashing windows to try to climb out of the building and a mother throwing her child out of a window to be safely caught by a person below. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin arrived quickly at the scene in the small suburban town of Vaulx-en-Velin, some 470 kilometers (290 miles) southeast of Paris, reflecting the scale of the tragedy.