French holiday home where 11 died broke safety rules - prosecutor

The holiday home in France where 11 people died in a fire did not meet safety standards, an official has said.

The blaze broke out early on Wednesday at a property in La Forge hosting people with learning disabilities.

Prosecutor Nathalie Kielwasser said the building was not properly inspected and had the wrong type of smoke alarm.

The owner of the property, who lives opposite the holiday home, is in shock and has not been detained, she added.

The lodging had not undergone the "obligatory" safety inspection and "did not have the characteristics needed to host the public", Ms Kielwasser, the deputy prosecutor for the city of Colmar, told AFP news agency.

The building, an old structure recently renovated, had smoke detectors "but not sufficient for this type of property", she said.

Ms Kielwasser said it was not yet clear whether there were fire extinguishers in the building. The cause of the fire is not known and investigations are continuing, she added.

The building was being used by two groups of adults from two separate charities helping people with disabilities, the local government for the Haut-Rhin region said.

Nearly 80 firefighters were sent to the blaze after emergency services were alerted at 06:30 local time (04:30 GMT) on Wednesday.

Ms Kielwasser said the property owner, who lives opposite, was the first to raise the alarm.

The fire broke out near Wintzenheim, close to the German border and about 70km (50 miles) south of the city of Strasbourg.

Seventeen people were evacuated from the property. Those killed were 10 adults with learning difficulties and one companion.

The local mayor's office has said there were 28 people in the property when the fire started and claimed the owner had signed a contract to host just 16 people.

Photographs published in local media showed the partially wooden building in La Forge almost entirely ablaze early on Wednesday morning.

The building is an old barn converted into a three-storey holiday home. Firefighters said two-thirds of the building was on fire before they managed to bring it under control.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his thoughts were with the victims and their families and thanked the emergency services for responding to the "tragedy".