Paris, France
AP
–
Four people were killed in a “very violent” flame caused by a battery-powered electric scooter that tore a 10-storey residential block in Reims, the capital of France’s Champagne region, authorities said.
The 13-year-old jumped at his death from his fourth floor apartment, where the fire began early Friday.
The 87-year-old woman and her 59-year-old son, who lived on the eighth floor, were suffocated from the smoke, he said.
He said two people were seriously injured, including the severely burned, deceased stepfather, and the other 26 were treated at hospital for minor injuries.
Schneider says that the flames are “no doubt” and quickly spread from the scooter that was lit for unknown reasons.
Prosecutors said the battery fire was “very difficult to put out” and fought the flames for more than three hours.
