An electric scooter is blamed for a violent fire that killed 4 in a French city

PARIS AP Four people were killed in an extremely violent blaze seemingly caused by a battery-powered electric scooter that tore through a -story housing block in Reims the capital of France s Champagne region government stated Saturday A -year-old jumped to his death from the th-floor apartment where the fire started in the early hours of Friday and a burned body determined inside is considered to be that of his older brother aged reported Reims prosecutor Fran ois Schneider An -year-old woman and her -year-old son who lived on the th floor suffocated to death in the smoke he explained Two people were seriously injured including the dead boys stepfather who was badly burned and others were treated in hospital for lighter injuries he disclosed Schneider revealed there is no doubt that the blaze was accidental spreading swiftly from the scooter that caught fire for reasons unknown Battery fires are extremely challenging to extinguish and fire officers battled the blaze for more than three hours the prosecutor commented Source