French media report that 11 people have died in a fire in a hostel in Witzenheim, near Colmar in eastern France. The fire was reported early in the morning on 9 August. Those who died had disabilities. All who were housed on the ground floor survived. Since the fire it has been reported that the hostel was unregistered and did not comply with French regulations. In many recent projects in France, where a building did not comply with regulations sprinklers have been accepted as a compensatory measure. There has never been multiple loss of life in a building fitted with a sprinkler system.