3 migrants die in apartment fire in southern France

SANAA, Jul. 18 (YPA) – French officials announced the death of three migrants in the southern city of Marseille, on Saturday, as a result of a fire that broke out in a public apartment building.

A judicial source said a two-year-old child and an adult were seriously injured in the building fire, which is known to be illegally inhabited by migrants, mostly Nigerians, adding that the three men who died were illegal immigrants.

Police chief Frederic Camilleri told AFP that the cause of the fire, which broke out in the common space between the apartments, had not yet been determined.

“There is a notorious (drug) trading point here and tension between the population and the promoters,” he added.

The authorities are currently working to house the survivors of the fire.

The building supervising company, which runs a chain of public housing in the area, said it was on a demolition list.

“Although the cause of the fire has not yet been determined … what is clear is that the poor living conditions of residents here and in other public housing buildings in Marseille creates a dangerous situation and grave dangers” for everyone, said Marseille Deputy Mayor Samia Ghali.

Marseille politicians faced accusations of ignoring warnings about unsafe housing in 2018, when eight people were killed when two buildings collapsed in the center of the coastal city.