Overview

• Fourteen people aged 20 to 75 were inside the converted stone cottage before dawn on July 28, including eight guests with learning disabilities, four carers and two owners.
• Fire crews from Charente and surrounding departments, totaling nearly 90 personnel, arrived roughly 20 minutes after the alarm and battled the fire for hours under heavy smoke.
• Rescuers have retrieved four bodies from the wreckage and continue searching for a fifth person unaccounted for in the charred remains.
• Investigators suspect an electrical fault sparked the blaze and have opened a criminal enquiry into involuntary manslaughter and injury, with forensic teams examining the site.
• The cottage had passed a state disability services inspection two years ago, renewing concerns over fire safety enforcement after a 2023 holiday home fire killed 11 disabled holidaymakers.