Marne

Reims: an electric scooter is the cause of a fatal fire

- 3:22 pm
Fatal fire in Reims (image SDIS 51 (sur X))

Fatal fire in Reims (image SDIS 51 (sur X))

Four people perished in the fire that broke out on Thursday night in a low-income building in the city of coronations. The public prosecutor confirms that the tragedy was accidental.

An electric scooter was the cause of the fire that claimed the lives of four people in a low-income building in Reims, on the night of Thursday June 5 to Friday June 6. This information was confirmed on Saturday by the Reims public prosecutor, François Schneider, at a press briefing in court.

An accidental fire with dramatic consequences

“There is no doubt about the purely accidental nature of the fire”, said the magistrate. The origin of the fire has been identified: it started in an electric scooter, probably in its lithium-ion battery. However, investigators are still unsure of the precise cause of the blaze. A detailed examination of the device is still required to determine the exact circumstances.

The public prosecutor emphasized the particular danger of this type of incident: “Fires caused by this type of battery are extremely difficult to extinguish, since the cells tend to self-sustain when they burn, which explains the violence and rapid spread of the fire.” It took the emergency services three and a half hours to bring the flames under control.

Four victims, including two teenagers

The human toll was particularly heavy. In the apartment where the fire started, a 13-year-old teenager died when he jumped out of the window to escape the flames. A charred body was discovered in the same apartment, “probably” that of his 15-year-old brother, according to the public prosecutor. Their stepfather, also present at the time of the fire, was injured but survived.

The other two victims were an 87-year-old woman and her 59-year-old son, who lived on the eighth floor of the building. They succumbed to asphyxiation caused by toxic fumes as they tried to evacuate the building.

Witnesses described to investigators “a scene of war”, in the words of prosecutor François Schneider, illustrating the violence of the fire that left its mark on the city of Reims.

Marne,