The blaze broke out at around midnight at the basement room of the Cuba Libre bar in the city centre during a birthday celebration.
The blaze broke out at around midnight at the basement room of the Cuba Libre bar in the city centre during a birthday celebration.
Rennes
: At least 13 people were killed and six injured in a fire early Saturday during a birthday party at a bar in the northern French city of Rouen, officials said.
The blaze was sparked by the candles of a birthday cake, which ignited the polystyrene ceiling of the basement room where the celebrations were taking place.
The victims were poisoned by a toxic mix of gases released by the burning plastic, a senior police official told AFP.
-"There wasn't an explosion, it was candles used for a birthday party,-" he said.
The blaze started at around midnight at the Cuba Libre bar in the city centre, and the firemen were at the scene by 00:20 am (2220 GMT Friday).
-"A fire broke out in a bar in the city centre of Rouen this evening, according to an initial investigation, 13 are dead and six are injured, and more than 50 firemen attended the scene,-" Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement.
One of the injured was in a critical condition, the secretary general of the Seine-Maritime prefecture Yvan Cordier told AFP.
Local official Laurent Labadie who was at the scene of the fire described the blaze as accidental.
Jittery France is on edge after a series of recent attacks by Islamic State-affiliated jihadists, including the killing of a priest in nearby Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.
The priest's funeral was held in Rouen's cathedral and was attended by more than 2,000 mourners shocked by the brutal killing of the elderly clergyman.
