The bombs create a firestorm inside the ancient city. In parts of the city, the flames reach 300 feet into the sky. The Hotel of Bees is destroyed by a bomb.

Marie-Laure curls up under her bed, with the little model house in one hand and the stone that fell from it in the other as the bombs rain down on the city. Her ears are assaulted by the noise of the bombs. She smells fire and smoke, as the city burns around her.

Werner is thrown by the concussion during the bombing. His hearing is destroyed. He tries to gather his wits to check on the radio and his companions in the basement: the engineer Walter Bernd and Frank Volkheimer.