Three bodies found after Clermont-Ferrand fire, prosecutors probe possible criminal origin

The fire and the search

A fire broke out at about 03:00 on Friday, 30 October, in a five-storey residential building in central Clermont-Ferrand that was difficult to reach. The municipality said the flames then spread to the roof:

“The fire then reached the roof and caused the collapse of the fourth and fifth floors.”

Three bodies were found overnight from Friday to Saturday in the rubble, the prosecutor told AFP. On Saturday morning about thirty firefighters were still searching the site for a possible fourth victim, a resident of the building who had not been located. The prosecutor's office could not yet give the identities of the victims on Saturday morning.

The investigation

Prosecutors said their first findings pointed to a possible criminal origin for the fire, although the exact circumstances remain to be established. A 21-year-old man was placed in police custody on Friday morning, and his questioning was still continuing on Saturday. The prosecutor's office had raised the possibility of a criminal origin as early as Friday.

Casualties and evacuations

Six people were taken to hospital with minor injuries, and about thirty residents of nearby buildings were evacuated as a precaution. The unlocated person is described by rescuers as a resident of the affected building, a detail that local media had reported before the rescue services confirmed it.