Fire at central Paris hotel leaves 17 dead, more than 50 injured

PARIS,Friday (AFP) Fire swept through a central Paris hotel filled with immigrants and tourists early Friday, killing at least 17 people, five of them children, and injuring more than 50 others in one of the deadliest blazes in the French capital in 20 years.

Witnesses and firefighters said some guests leapt from windows to escape the blaze, which destroyed the six-story one-star Paris-Opera hotel, located behind the upmarket Galeries Lafayette department store and near the Opera Garnier.

As an investigation got under way, a police source said the cause of the blaze at the hotel - used both by ordinary tourists and as temporary housing for needy families - was "undoubtedly accidental."

Alfred Millot, head of Galeries Lafayette's fire service, saw hotel residents jump from the upper floors and throw their children through windows in desperate efforts to save their lives.

"With our own equipment, we started fighting the fire from the ground floor. I came running and people were already jumping through the windows. I saw bodies, windows in flames, people crying out for help," he told AFP. "It's hard in that kind of situation to tell people to calm down. They jumped. People on the first floor threw their children out the windows," Millot added.

The bodies of several victims were found in the rooms, and one firefighter was seen struggling to bring the body of a woman down a ladder.

French President Jacques Chirac called the blaze "one of the most painful catastrophes that has ever plunged Paris into mourning", adding: "This drama gives us all a feeling of horror and has deeply upset us."

Five of the 17 dead were children, including one baby. Thirteen of the more than 50 others injured suffered serious injuries, said fire service spokesman Captain Laurent Vibert. Two firefighters were slightly hurt.

Emergency services said the death toll could still rise. One official said the number of dead would have been much lower had residents remained in their rooms and not tried to flee the flames.