One person has died following a fire in Tarchamps, in the municipality of the Upper Sûre Lake, police announced on Thursday morning.
Police were called to a fire on Duerfstrooss at around 11pm on Wednesday. Five people were inside the building at the time. Four managed to get out, while one resident was unaccounted for.
During the firefighting operation, a 63-year-old man was found dead inside the house. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
The public prosecutor’s office has been informed, and an investigation will be carried out to establish the exact cause of the fire and the cause of death.
According to the municipality, two people were taken to hospital by ambulance.
The fire broke out in a so-called 'Kaffiszëmmer' – café room – characteristically substandard, unsafe shared housing, located above or next to a café in Tarchamps, spread across three buildings.
Speaking to RTL, Upper Sûre Lake mayor Marco Koeune said the buildings had been a source of concern for years because of safety issues, citing narrow staircases and electrical installations that no longer met safety standards, problems that would have required extensive renovation.
Since 2022, the municipality had been alerting the owners to breaches of safety and sanitary regulations. The Diekirch public prosecutor’s office was involved, and on-site inspections were also carried out.
On 22 October, the municipality issued an order for the café room to close permanently from 1 January 2027.
Koeune stressed that no one is allowed to return to the café room following the fire. The municipality is "desperately" looking for ways to provide decent accommodation for those affected.
It is in contact with the local social welfare office and intends to ask neighbouring municipalities for help, as the municipality has no emergency housing of its own.
In principle, the mayor believes it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that people living in such substandard conditions can live in dignity.
Koeune was unable to say exactly how many people now need somewhere to live. As is often the case in such situations, not all residents were properly registered.
The municipality officially counts nine residents, but more people were actually living in the café rooms.
