“They had gone to Gabion to have a good time”

Two young 20 -year -olds were found dead, in the evening of this Wednesday January 22, 2025inside a gabion in the marshes in Saint-Fromond (Manche).

Carbon monoxide poisoning could be at the origin of their death. The gendarmerie opened a investigation.

Matthieu Lehot, president of the Sauvaginiers of the Cotentin and Bessin marshes, answered our questions.

The death of these two young hunters affects you, I imagine, like your entire community?

It's dramatic. Tragic for these kids. They are young hunters of only 20 years old. They had undoubtedly left for Gabion to have a good time, enjoy the last days of authorized hunting. It was their passion. And they did not return home. It is very sad to die as well. I think of their families.

Their disappearance echoes that of Amaury, a young hunter from Saint-Fromond who tragically died a year ago, in other unhappy circumstances, in the marshes of Carentan, in Bay of the Veys.

The authorities evoke possible intoxication with carbon monoxide linked to the exhaust of a motorbike. Is its use usual in a gabion?

It is rare and exceptional. In the case of Saint-Fromond, the young people had to put a motorbike on the interior of the Gabion to evacuate the water which had flooded it, undoubtedly before the cold stroke. The marsh whitens, like every year. And on Saint-Fromond, it is the ledge that passes over the dike. The Gabion has refueled. Gabions are generally hermetic.

“In my opinion, they were victims of a domestic accident. »»

Pass incidents have shown the potential dangers linked to this seal. Fifteen years ago, a Gabion exploded following a gas leak in the Brévands sector. Hunters entering a gabion had felt a smell of gas. They wanted to ventilate. Except that the gas had remained at the ground of the ground, and a micro-spark had exploded everything. The occupants had been seriously injured.

These installations to practice the water game open to the maritime domain are now geoloclisable?

Following this gas leak, a reflection on security had been initiated. Today, all gabions are all geolocated for help and are identified by a compulsory number.

“In the event of a call for help, firefighters have a tool that allows them to intervene quickly”.

The faster they located people in distress, the faster they can engage means. Locally, firefighters have plot cards. It may be necessary to rework on the device. We can always improve it. I had hypothesized to set up referents by sector. For example, three referents per sector, people who know the marshes and their pockets and that firefighters have the possibility of contacting in the event of an incident on the sector.

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