Fire in Marseillan apartment kills woman and sends five people to hospital

A fire broke out around 9:30 p.m.

on Tuesday, October 20, in a first-floor apartment in Marseillan, southern France.

Firefighters found a woman in her 90s dead inside the apartment.

Five other residents, including a two-year-old child, were taken to hospital after inhaling smoke.

The building’s 12 residents got out, and about 40 firefighters responded to the blaze.

After the building was inspected, residents were allowed to return to their apartments the next morning.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation: one initial account said an accident was likely, while another reported that investigators were checking a possible deliberate act.

Investigators will need to establish how the fire started and spread.