Fire in bar kills 13 in northern French town

Thirteen people were killed and six injured when a fire ripped through a small city centre bar in the northern French city of Rouen, the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement on Saturday (August 6).

Cazeneuve said the casualty toll was based on a provisional report and that an investigation had been opened to determine the cause of the incident.

The fire, at the Cuba Libre bar, broke out just before midnight local time on Friday (August 5), Paris-Normandie.fr said on its website.

The fire began in the bar’s basement where a private birthday party was being held, Paris-Normandie.fr said.

The victims were aged 18 to 25 years old, the local news organization said.

According to police, a candle may have fallen from the birthday cake setting alight the carpet, curtains and ceiling.

Valerie Fouquet, who met up with a friend, witnessed the fire break out while she was standing on the bar’s terrace.

“I told my friend let’s get a spot on the terrace, I was about to sit when… All of a sudden, everything blew. We saw the smoke and we saw the flames, the chairs flew up, the window… We got scared, we stepped away,” she said.