Five apartments in a building northeast of Lyon were damaged in a fire on Saturday, sparked by mortar fire during the illegal filming of a music video and clashes with police.
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Minister for Municipalities and Housing Vincent Jeanbrun was traveling on Monday 10 November to Rillieux-la-Pape, near Lyon, where mortar fire torched a building on Saturday. In between filming the rap video, five apartments were destroyed, leaving 39 people homeless. Although solidarity was organized around the victims, this tragedy was primarily a symptom of the climate of tension prevailing in the city.
Starting Monday, donations poured into city hall, stored in large bags on the first floor. “At first it was just clothes, because some people lost literally all their possessions.”shows mRillieux-la-Pape skyline area, Alexandre Vincendet. He explained that the houses were affected by this fire “it is a community that is in dire straits, because they are in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the Lyon metropolitan area”.
About fifteen children found themselves without shelter. On the ground floor of the city hall, school supplies are being prepared. “Pens, pencils, erasers, colored pencils, highlighters…”Sigolène Desmaris, director of education policy in the city, carried out an inventory of the basic materials needed for school children. “Every year, for the past two years, we provide equipment before the end of the school year so that students can prepare for the next school year”he explained.
“We only have a little left in stock, so this allows us to redistribute it to these kids.”
Sigolène Desmaris, director of education policy at Rillieux-la-Papeat franceinfo
22 families were temporarily rehoused by the city at the recreation center. According to security sources, the source of the fire is beyond doubt. About thirty people, wearing suits and masks to record a rap video without permission, fired mortars. Seeing a crew of three police officers, they charged him.
“There is no doubt for the simple reason that everything was filmedstressed Mayor Rillieux-la-Pape. Luckily, the cameras that had been systematically destroyed by thugs in the neighborhood had been replaced 24 hours before the fire.”
The opposition spoke out about the fire climate and condemned the use of tear gas to disperse crowds that gathered near the building on Saturday. “There were residents who were very angry because they crossed the security line and caused a reaction from the police. They shot gas at the entire crowd present.”tells Edouard Raffin, the left-wing leader in the municipal elections.
For him, “There is a high level of tension at all times so incidents like this could happen.”. Beyond the controversy between political camps that will clash in the March elections, justice is working to identify the perpetrators, without having to arrest them at this time.
