11 killed in fire at French vacation home hosting people with disabilities

Eleven people were killed when a fire tore through a pair of attached vacation homes hosting people with mental disabilities in a picturesque eastern French town early Wednesday morning, Report informs via CNN.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and Minister of Solidarity and Families Aurore Berge traveled to the scene of the fire in Wintzenheim, a small town near the German border about 315 miles (500 kilometers) east of Paris, just hours after the blaze had been contained.

“It’s clearly a terrible tragedy,” Borne said.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze kilometers) east of Paris, at 6:33 a.m., according to Philippe Hauwiller, the town’s head of rescue operations. First responders arrived to the scene 14 minutes later, where 17 people had already evacuated.

Eleven people were still inside. Given the intensity of the flames on their arrival, Hauwiller said it was “more than likely” that those who hadn’t made it out were already dead by the time firefighters were on the scene.