Rouen fire: at least 13 dead in birthday disaster at bar in French city

A fire thought to have been caused by the candles on a birthday cake killed 13 people at a bar in the French city of Rouen and left at least six others injured, one critically.

Reports said the fire broke out in the basement of the Cuba Libre where the private party was being held on Friday night. At least six people were rescued and received treatment for injuries. The victims were described as being aged between 18 and 25.

Authorities were describing the fire as an accident, possibly started by candles on the birthday cake setting fire to flammable material in the ceiling. According to French media, one of the party-goers was said to have stumbled while carrying a cake with lit candles down the stairs to the lower floor. Flames spread quickly to polystyrene ceiling tiles which gave off a cloud of noxious fumes that choked victims, who were unable to escape.

“There was no explosion, but candles used for a birthday party set light to the ceiling made of polystyrene, giving off a gas that poisoned the victims,” a police official told the AFP news agency.

More than 50 firefighters battled the blaze at the bar in the city centre, said the French cabinet minister Bernard Cazeneuve, praising their quick action after they arrived at 12.50am local time.

The secretary general of the prefecture of Seine-Maritime, Yvan Cordier, went to the bar and said emergency services had “intervened very quickly”.

Yvon Robert, the mayor of Rouen, also attended, describing the fire as “the greatest catastrophe”.

Lawrence Labadie, local deputy prosecutor, told Paris-Normandie that the fire appeared to be an accident and residents who thought there was a blast had probably heard glass exploding.

Cazeneuve, France’s minister of the interior, said a judicial inquiry was under way into the cause.

Authorities appeared to set aside the possibility of terrorism.

The deaths came as Rouen mourned the terrorist murder of Father Jacques Hamel who was killed while saying mass in his church at nearby Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray by two terrorists on 26 July. Thousands of mourners turned out for the priest’s funeral at Rouen Cathedral on Tuesday.

The country remains under a state of emergency following Hamel’s murder, the Bastille Day attack in Nice and the Paris attacks.
Source:-theguardian
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Nice Attack: Islamic terror, wilful denial and rise of right-wing forces

When a terrorist attack takes place — and most are targeted against unarmed civilians in virtually every sphere of public life — the initial reaction of shock and horror is quickly replaced by anger. Grief needs a catharsis. In absence of the terrorists who have perpetrated the crime, the anger turns towards the political leaders whose job it is to provide security.

The blood has not yet been wiped off the streets of Nice that France has turned against President Francois Hollande. TV channels covering the Thursday night tragedy, showed how unmitigated anger poured out against a President largely seen as effete, ineffective and incapable of preventing waves and waves of terror attacks on French soil.

The attack in Nice was as gruesome a terror strike as any. Latest reports indicate that 84 people were killed when a large white truck, said to be driven by a French-Tunisian citizen, ploughed into a large crowd, who gathered at the beachfront Promenade des Anglais in southern city of Nice for a fireworks display on Bastille Day. Local French media reported that the driver shouted "Allahu Akbar" before taking out his gun and firing several times at the crowd before he was subsequently neutralised.

Bastille Day commemorates the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July, 1789, an important event in the French Revolution. It is marked with a military parade down Paris' most famous boulevard, a presidential address to the nation and a vast fireworks display. Founding values of French Republic, equality, liberty and fraternity, are glorified.

The significance of the day and the fact that a large number of citizens had gathered for celebration — made it a lucrative target. In one fell blow, two purposes were achieved. One, a huge number of people were killed ensuring widespread outrage and non-stop media coverage — aspects which serve as fuel for glorification of terror and draws more and more perpetrators. Two, a symbolic, cruel blow was dealt to the French ideal of syncretism, the bedrock on which the multicultural republic stands.

Source: http://www.firstpost.com