In Geneva, a former fire coordinator of the General Hospice was found guilty, on appeal, of homicide and bodily harm through negligence in the case of the fire at the Tattes migrant shelter, in Vernier, in 2014, during which a resident died.
The Criminal Appeal and Review Chamber did not follow the first instance judgment, which led to the acquittal of this former state employee. For the judges, the defendant could have avoided the tragedy caused by the fire by providing information related to the dangers of fire directly to the residents of the home.
The accused was sentenced to a suspended financial penalty. The Court also upheld the conviction for negligent homicide and bodily harm of two security guards who, on the day of the fire, attempted to extinguish the fire instead of evacuating the building. They also received a suspended financial sentence.
The Court also confirmed the 15-month suspended prison sentence of an Algerian, who, through his negligence, was at the origin of the fire. In their judgment, the magistrates recalled that the fire had been started in this resident’s room by a hotplate or by poorly extinguished cigarette butts in a trash can.
In any case, the rules of the home prohibited residents from smoking in the rooms and having heating appliances there. The fire started in the Algerian national’s room when he went out. Two security guards initially tried to put out the flames.
Their fault was in wanting to play firefighters. One of the officers gained access to the burning room by forcing the door, causing smoke to spread throughout the building. Along with his colleague, they also forgot to close a fire door, plunging the stairwell into a toxic cloud.
A striking drama
Two residents were asphyxiated, one of whom died. Several other migrants, living on the upper floors, panicked at the idea of not being able to get out of the building, threw themselves out of the windows, some seriously injuring themselves. This dramatic fire caused a shock wave in Geneva.
The former coordinator responsible for assessing the risks linked to the fire in the Tattes home was not spared by the Court of Appeal. The latter in fact considered that he had not sufficiently informed the residents of how to behave if a fire broke out in the center for applicants.
Providing such information would not have required much time. To avoid the tragedy of November 2014, several residents would have had to be taught to avoid taking smoke-filled stairs or jumping out of windows. “We could thus have prevented a panic,” noted the judges.
Concerning reparations for moral harm to residents and their families affected by the tragedy, the Court told the plaintiffs to contact the State. The security agents on duty that night in November 2014 must indeed be considered as agents of the State, as well as the former head of the General Hospice.
