Paris Apartment Fire Kills 14

(L'Hay-Les-Roses, France) Yesterday, up to 200 firefighters rushed to extinguish a fire that erupted in an 18-story low-income apartment building south of Paris. Fourteen people died, mostly from smoke inhalation. Sixteen people were injured, ten seriously. The blaze was the fourth deadly fire in four months in the Paris area. They have killed 48 people.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin stated that the fire could be "of criminal origin." Witnesses reported seeing a group of youths who live in the building start the fire.

The government is being criticized for not providing better low-cost public housing. Oddly, criticism for the fires is not being directed at the President Bush. Yet.