At least 12 killed in high-rise fire east of Paris

At least 12 killed in high-rise fire east of Paris

Spate of deadly blazes has prompted French crackdown on squatters

Updated: 10:40 p.m. ET Sept. 3, 2005

PARIS - A fire tore through a high-rise apartment building east of
Paris early Sunday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 16,
firefighters said.

The blaze, the fourth deadly fire in the Paris area since April, broke
out in the entrance hall of a 15-story housing project in the
Val-de-Marne region east of the capital, the local fire squad said.
The fire was quickly extinguished, but people had died from toxic smoke.

About 200 firefighters rushed to the scene after the fire began before
dawn in the town of L’Hay-les-Roses, and medical teams set up a mobile
treatment site.

At least nine people were seriously injured, said local fire brigade
spokesman Alain Antonini. Several were rushed to hospitals in the
area.