At least 10 people injured as prefect of French region says fire has left ‘nothing but a heap of ashes’

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A large fire has devastated the Grande-Synthe migrant camp outside the northern French city of Dunkirk, reducing it to “a heap of ashes”, a regional official has said.



Firefighters said at least 10 people had been injured on Monday night in the blaze at the camp, which was home to between 1,000 and 1,500 people living in closely packed wooden huts.

“There is nothing left but a heap of ashes,” said Michel Lalande, the prefect of France’s Nord region, at the site. “It will be impossible to put the huts back where they were before.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fire rages through the Grande-Synthe migrant camp. Photograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty

Earlier on Monday, at least six people were wounded in scuffles and a knife fight between Afghans and Kurds. Riot police intervened and that led to further clashes between security forces and 100-150 people.

One of the injured migrants was knocked over by a car on a road outside the camp and was in critical condition, police said. Three others had stab wounds.

A huge plume of smoke rose from the camp into the night sky and was visible from several miles away.



“Many of the cabins have burned down or are still on fire, more than half the camp has been destroyed,” a spokesman at the regional prefect’s office said, adding that 165 people had been taken to makeshift shelters nearby as the fire continued to rage in the early hours of Tuesday.

Médecins Sans Frontières said 600 people were missing after they were evacuated from the camp.

Corenne Torre, head of the humanitarian group in France, said on Tuesday 1,500 people had been displaced by the fire. Torre said while 900 evacuees had been given alternative lodging with associations or in local gymnasiums, about 600 migrants were unaccounted for and their whereabouts unknown.

The incident will again focus attention on the UK government’s immigration policy as it tries to negotiate Britain’s exit from the European Union. David Davis, the Brexit secretary, has said immigration could increase even after Britain leaves the EU, raising the prospect that migrants could continue to gather in northern France for years to come.



French officials said in mid-March that security forces planned to start dismantling the camp after clashes at the site.

The population of the Grande-Synthe camp has swelled since the destruction last October of the Calais refugee camp, about 25 miles (40km) away.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest French firefighters stand near debris a day after the blaze. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

For more than a decade, France’s northern coast has been a focal point for refugees and migrants trying to reach the UK, with French authorities repeatedly tearing down camps in the region.

There have been several violent incidents at the Grande-Synthe camp, with police intervening last month after five men were injured in a fight. Another man was stabbed in November.

Last week, migrants from Grande-Synthe had tried to block the nearby highway with tree trunks and branches to try to stop the traffic and clamber on to vehicles in the hope of reaching the UK.

Agence-France Presse and Reuters contributed to this report