Two buildings deemed fire hazards cleared in Paris

Saturday, September 3, 2005

PARIS -- Police evicted about 140 mainly African squatters, some sobbing or screaming, from two dilapidated buildings Friday as authorities began a sweep of dwellings deemed fire hazards following two deadly blazes. The evacuations, ordered by Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, followed two recent fires that killed dozens of African immigrants in the French capital and put the issue of substandard housing on the national agenda. Police opened an arson investigation Friday into one of the fires, which killed 17 people, 14 of them children, a week ago.

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