An electric scooter is accused of a violent fire that killed four people in French city

PARIS (AP) – Authorities said Saturday that a battery-powered electric scooter was torn down in a 10-storey housing block in Reims, the capital of France's Champagne region, and was killed in a “extremely violent” fire.

Rems prosecutor François Schneider said a 13-year-old man jumped from a fourth-floor apartment to his death and a fire began in the early hours of Friday, and the body believed to have been found inside was the body of his 15-year-old brother.

He said an 87-year-old woman lives on the 8th floor with her 59-year-old son, smoky and suffocated.

He said two people were seriously injured, including the dead boy stepfather, who were severely burned and 26 others received minor injuries at the hospital.

Schneider said the fire was “no doubt” accidental, spreading quickly from the scooter for unknown reasons.

Prosecutors said the battery fire was “extremely difficult to extinguish” and firefighters fought the fire for more than three hours.