Eleven people are missing and feared dead after a fire broke out early Wednesday morning at a vacation cottage in the eastern French town of Wintzenheim.

Authorities say the cottage was rented by an association that assists disabled people. The missing residents, including 10 adults with learning disabilities and a staff member, were from the nearby eastern city of Nancy.

Christopher Marot, the secretary-general of the Haut-Rhin district, told reporters it is likely the 11 missing people were unable to escape the blaze.

The BBC says the bodies of three people have been recovered from the rubble.

The fire was quickly brought under control, but Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that “several casualties are reported” from the scene and that rescue operations were still ongoing.

Seventeen others were evacuated from the blaze, with one person transported to a nearby hospital.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on X that she was heading to the site of the fire. “My first thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones,” she wrote.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse.
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