Fire at HEC Paris: the causes of the incident remain unclear

HEC Paris was the victim of a violent fire this Tuesday, October 3, 2023. The main amphitheater of the business school would have been damaged. té devastated, reports Le Parisien and BFMTV.

The prestigious business school has been victim of a major fire. On Tuesday evening, October 3, a fire broke out. shortly after 8 p.m., in its premises located in the town of Jouy-en-Josas, in Yvelines, near Paris. about twenty kilometers southwest of Paris. Le Parisien reports that many firefighters were still active on site at the very end of the evening.

In the images that reach us on social networks, we can see a huge plume of black smoke rising above the skyline. in the sky. It appears that the main amphitheater was destroyed. touched The fire was hit head-on by the flames which also partially destroyed a second building, relays Le Parisien. For the moment, the causes of this violent fire are not known.

Speaking to the Ile-de-France daily, a student present on the scene recounted the incident. the "windows [that] exploded","the flames [that] were protruding from the roof" and more generally, the "impressive" which he was able to attend. "All that remains is the walls of the amphitheater," the student. BFM TV states, for its part, that the fire would have spread over 400 500m². 

Jacques Attali present on the HEC campus at the time of the fire

Still in the columns of Parisien, the student explained that at the moment when When the fire broke out, a conference with Jacques Attali took place on the HEC campus. According to information from BFMTV, management interrupted the conference to evacuate. "There is a very big fire, really very big. With the wind, the fumes come here, but perhaps it would be more prudent to stop the lecture and start talking. “to go out”, would it have been? indicated. Approximately 150 people had to attend. be evacuated, but for the moment, no injuries. is not reported.