A famous French-Swiss photographer has died after he collapsed on a street in Paris and no one helped for 10 hours until, finally, a homeless person called the fire brigade.

Rene Robert, 85, a French-Swiss photographer who made his mark photographing flamenco dancers and musicians over the last 50 years, died of hypothermia in the French capital Paris on Thursday, 20th January.

He took ill on Turbigo Street on the evening of Wednesday, 19th January, and collapsed, spending the next 10 hours face down until, finally, an unnamed homeless person phoned the fire brigade early on the morning of 20th January.

Robert was born in Fribourg in Switzerland in 1936 before learning photography in Lausanne and moving to Paris in the 1960s, where he worked in fashion, advertising and teaching.

He reportedly fell in love with flamenco at Le Catalan, a flamenco tablao in the French capital city. A tablao is a place where flamenco shows are performed.

The journalist and musician Michel Mompontet, who was a friend of the deceased photographer, took to social media to say that Robert was “killed by indifference”.

Mompontet took to Twitter post this message on the evening of Monday, 24th January: “Murdered by indifference. Tonight at 7.20pm on France Info TV, my tribute to photographer Rene Robert, who died alone on a busy street in the capital without anyone stopping and helping him…and what this tragic and revolting end of a life teaches us about ourselves.”

He later tweeted: “I would really like to know who the homeless person is who, at 6 am, was the only human being to call for help.”