A 13-year-old boy jumped from a fourth-floor apartment where a fire started early Friday, and the charred body found inside is believed to be that of his older brother, 15, Reims prosecutor Francois Schneider said, News.az reports citing CNN. com.
An 87-year-old woman and her 59-year-old son, who lived on the eighth floor, suffocated in smoke, he said.
Two people were seriously injured, including the dead boys’ stepfather who was badly burned, and 26 others were treated in hospital for lighter injuries, he said.
Schneider said there is “no doubt” that the blaze was accidental, spreading quickly from the scooter that caught fire for reasons unknown.
Battery fires “are extremely difficult to extinguish” and fire officers battled the blaze for more than three hours, the prosecutor said.
