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French Alps: Fire ravages Annecy town hall

A major fire broke out on Thursday at the town hall in the popular Alpine holiday destination of Annecy.

Published: 14 November 2019 15:41 CET
French Alps: Fire ravages Annecy town hall
Photo: AFP

Fire broke out in the historic mairie building at around 12.45pm on Thursday and quickly spread to the roof, which was seen by witnesses to be well ablaze.

 

All staff were safely evacuated from the building when the fire, which is believed to have started in an electric circuit box, broke out.

 

The school and nursery on the nearby quai Jules Philippe were also evacuated and the children taken to a safe location.

 

There were no reported injuries and fire crews say the blaze is not believed to be deliberate.

Annecy, known as 'the pearl of the Alps' is a popular holiday destination year-round for its beautiful Medieval buildings and large lake, as well as nearby ski resorts.

Member comments

  1. About five or so years ago there was a major string of arson in Annecy.

    Now that seems to be happening in Grenoble.

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WEATHER

IN PICTURES: French town hit by freak June hailstorm

A French town has been hit by a freak hailstorm that left locals clearing drifts of ice in the streets with shovels and snow ploughs.

Published: 29 June 2021 16:44 CEST
IN PICTURES: French town hit by freak June hailstorm
Photo: Sapeurs-pompiers des Vosges

The hail struck the town of Plombières-les-Bains in the Vosges mountains on Tuesday morning.

Romain Munier, head of communications for the local emergency services, told French media: “There were up to 60 centimetres of accumulated hail” while in the wider area, “up to 10 millimetres of water accumulated in six minutes”.

https://twitter.com/timbaland57/status/1409881345741012994

Locals were pictured clearing the street of ice with shovels and snow ploughs after the storm passed and the fire and rescue crews for the Vosges area said they had received 56 callouts in total.

Large areas of France are on weather alert for storms until Thursday, as a ‘cold drop’ passes over the country leading to extremely unsettled weather.

In most areas, however, the storms will be confined to heavy rain and thunder.

In neighbouring Switzerland, the Swiss news agency ATS reported giant hailstones up to seven centimetres wide in the canton of Lucerne.

In the canton of Fribourg, the police and fire brigade were called 300 times, including to rescue a class of 16 children and two adults caught in the hail.

Six of the children and one adult were taken to hospital.

At least five people were injured in the German-speaking Swiss cantons, including a cyclist who suffered head injuries from hailstones, according to ATS, whilst in Germany severe flooding has hit parts of the country including Stuttgart.

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