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Tourism workers caught in Val d’Isere blaze

A blaze in an apartment block in the French ski resort of Val d’Isere forced the evacuation of at least 200 people.


A 64-year-old woman was reported to be “gravely injured” after jumping from a window on the sixth floor to escape the fire, according to local media reports.


Three people were unaccounted for, although it was unclear if they had been evacuated or not.


The cause of the fire in the nine-storey building is not yet known.


The residence was reported by the Daily Mail to be used by mainly young workers, many of them from the UK.


Residents were evacuated from Les Jardins de la Balme apartments after a fire broke out on Monday afternoon, Le Figaro reported.


A nearby primary school was also evacuated as a precautionary measure, it said.


One emergency official was quoted as saying that two people were seriously injured in the fire, with eight others suffering from smoke inhalation.


“There is no news of three people; we don’t know if they were on the ninth floor or removed,” local official Elizabeth Castellotti told the AFP news agency.


The roof of the building was said to have been completely destroyed by the fire.


Val d’Isere mayor Marc Bauer said the building housed around 40 seasonal tourist workers.


“Our priority is to make sure they are rehoused for the rest of the season,” he said.

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