2005 Paris fires
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In the early hours of 15 April 2005, a fire broke out at the Paris-Opera, a six-storey, one-star, budget hotel in the 9th arrondissement.[1] Many of the victims were trapped on the building's upper floors, with some jumping from windows in an attempt to escape.[2] Most of the 76 people staying in the hotel at the time were African immigrants waiting to be housed. The rest were guests of several different nationalities.[3] 24 people were killed and 50 others injured.[1][3] Around half of the dead were children.[4] On the scene, the nearby Galeries Lafayette department store was used as an emergency hospital and temporary morgue.[2]
On 26 August 2005, 17 West African immigrants were killed in a fire at a block of flats in the 13th arrondissement, at least eight of whom were children.[1][5] District mayor Serge Blisko stated that the deaths had occurred from asphyxiation, not from burns. According to authorities, the fire started in a stairwell in the early hours of 26 August and continued to burn for three hours before it was brought under control by around 210 firefighters. According to one resident, the building, which was in a "decrepit state", was home to about 130 people: 30 adults and 100 children. The resident further said that the building was state-owned and run by Emmaus and France-Euro Habitat.[5]
On 30 August 2005, 7 Ivorian immigrants, four of whom were children, were killed in a fire at a block of flats in the Marais.[1]