GRANDE-SYNTHE, France, (MILLAT ONLINE/APP/AFP): A huge
fire tore through at least half of the Grande-Synthe migrant camp outside the northern French city of Dunkirk on Monday night, an AFP correspondent reported.
Firefighters said at least ten people had been injured in the blaze,
which witnesses said broke out after a row between migrants.
The camp was home to some 1,500 people by the end of March, living in
closely-packed wooden huts.
Local officials said the blaze had affected around 20 of the huts,
each of which accommodates four people, as firefighters continued to battle the flames.
A massive plume of smoke rose from the camp into the night sky and
was visible from several kilometres away.
French officials had said in mid-March that security forces were
planning to start dismantling the camp following clashes at the site.
The population of the Grande-Synthe camp has swelled since the
destruction last October of the squalid “Jungle” camp near Calais, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) away.