A mother and her seven children aged two to 14 died on Monday after a faulty dryer apparently set ablaze their house in eastern France, authorities said.
The fire, the deadliest such blaze involving children in France in a decade, broke out shortly after midnight in the rented family home in Charly-sur-Marne, a town around 80km east of Paris in the Champagne region.
The origin of the fire appeared to have been a malfunctioning clothes dryer on the ground floor of the house, he said.The woman's husband, father to three of the children, was saved by a firefighter who lives nearby and who intervened before his colleagues arrived, officials said.According to the prosecutor, he had tried to put out the fire and told his wife and the children - five girls and two boys - to seek refuge from the flames in their converted attic on the second floor.
The electric window blinds were blocked shut because of a power cut triggered by the faulty appliance, further hindering the rescue effort, the prosecutor said."I hope with all my heart that they didn't feel or see anything," said Sylvie Corre, the house owner's wife.She said the 40-year-old father worked for the Corre family's small champagne-producing business and was an"excellent employee".Corre said the house met safety standards.
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