Hospital Fire Kills at Least 25 in France

Fire burned through one wing of a home for the aged and bedridden before dawn today, killing at least 25 people and forcing the evacuation of scores of patients during one of the worst cold waves to hit France in decades. Police said one person was missing.

A hundred firefighters rushed to the Hospice of Grandvilliers from neighboring Beauvais, Formerie and Crevecoeur, working to extinguish the blaze and rescue the patients from their blazing rooms.

One rescuer said, “Because the victims were sick, bedridden and aged, many were unable to respond or react in time.”

Townspeople ran to the aid of patients stumbling about the grounds in sub-zero darkness, and ambulances and fire trucks took many to Beauvais and to surrounding hospitals.

Fire officials speculated that the blaze may have been caused by a short circuit due to a rupture in the building’s water pipes, but no official cause was immediately established. The frigid temperatures have caused many problems with electricity and water in the area over the last five days.

Officials said 196 people normally were sheltered in the hospice, which contains a hospital and a residence for patients of modest income.