Fires destroy historic Paris market, damage Kumasi stalls

A fire overnight from Sunday into Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, destroyed the Marché des Enfants Rouges on Rue de Bretagne in Paris's Marais, the capital's oldest covered food market, founded in 1615 under Louis XIII. The Paris Fire Brigade received the first alert around 4:15 a.m. Lieutenant-Colonel Pierre de Bouvier told reporters at the scene the market had been totally destroyed and nothing was left of the covered market. One firefighter sustained a minor injury or malaise; no civilian casualties were reported. Central Paris mayor Ariel Weil posted on X that the market was ravaged by flames early that morning, the fire mastered but the market totally devastated, and said the blaze did not spread to neighboring buildings. Accounts differ on the structural damage: Streamline Feed reported the metal and glass framework partially collapsed inward; Democrata reported at least two-thirds of the metal structure collapsed. The market was classified a monument historique in 1982; its name traces to a nearby orphanage founded in 1536 by Marguerite de Navarre. Food & Wine ranked it fifth among gastronomic market destinations this year. The cause is unknown, with an investigation to follow.