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 said. The blaze started at around midnight at the Cuba Libre bar in the city centre, and the firemen were at the scene by am GMT Friday. One of the injured was in a critical condition, the secretary general of the Seine-Maritime prefecture Yvan Cordier said.
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.
A confidential UN report has concluded that the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen deliberately bombed a house, killing four children, and that Huthi rebels used civilians as shields to avoid attacks. Britain's child sex abuse inquiry suffered a set back on Thursday with the resignation of its chair Lowell Goddard, who said its "legacy of failure" had weighed upon her role. The race to become the next UN chief gathers pace on Friday with a second straw poll that could spring surprises and prompt some candidates to end their bid to become the world's top diplomat.
Money to fight the outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in the United States is running out, US President Barack Obama said Thursday, calling the situation "critical" and urging lawmakers to act.
