Fire in Montpellier: two people dead, one trying to save the other

Two men died in a fire that broke out in a grocery store Montpellier on the night of Sunday to Monday. The origin of the fire is believed to be criminal.

A noble gesture, but a tragic outcome. On the night of October 6 to 7, 2024, around 4 a.m., a fire broke out in a grocery store in the Pas-du-Loup district of Montpellier. The manager of the store, a 70-year-old man, was still inside the grocery store, stuck, while the flames began to ravage the place. Hearing the man calling for help, three young men who frequented the neighborhood tried to get him out of the fire. One of the trio recounted to TF1 Info this Monday, October 7: “There were flames coming out of the grocery store and the grocer was banging. […] We tried everything to open it, but it was too barricaded. We didn't succeed.”

Faced with the impossibility of accessing the interior of the grocery store, one of the three individuals tried to force his way in with his car. He managed to enter the grocery store, but immediately found himself stuck, with the septuagenarian, at inside the store the entrance gate closed behind him. The 29-year-old “tried several maneuvers to get out, but he didn't succeed. He was stuck. He couldn't get out,” recalls the witness of TF1 Info. Despite the spontaneous intervention of the three individuals, the grocer and the young man did not survive the blaze. “After ten seconds, we could no longer hear anything at all,” the witness said. The firefighters called to intervene confirmed the death of the two men by finding their lifeless bodies in the ashes of the grocery store.

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A fire of criminal origin

But who set the fire to l'épicerie montpelliéraine ? From TF1 Info, two individuals approaching the store with a can were recorded by CCTV cameras. One of them was also seen fleeing just minutes before the fire broke out. “There is a strong chance that this is arson, or even criminal,” said Bruno Bartoccetti, the national secretary of the Police Unit union, interviewed by our colleagues from the first channel. “Was the intention to kill someone, to burn someone inside” ? Was the intention only to burn this grocery store ? All this will be worked on and all leads are being explored” continues the representative of the police forces. An investigation has been opened and DNA samples have been taken by specialist teams, but several days will be needed to shed light on the cause of the fire.

The fact that the grocery store was targeted surprises the local residents: “It's incomprehensible because it's not a grocery store that was trafficking, that was selling illegal things,” assured a resident to TF1 Info. As for the young man who tried to save the grocer trapped in the flames, he is described as a “young man who took very good care of his little brother, of his family.” and who “leaves behind many people in pain”.