20 years ago, on December 26, 2004, a four-story building was blown up by a gas explosion at 12 rue de la Martre in Mulhouse. Seventeen bodies were removed from the rubble. Saturday, December 21 at the end of the morning, families, but also some local residents and elected officials met for a ceremony in front of the stele erected to commemorate this tragedy.
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The emotion is still palpable. Even 20 years later. Christophe Ernst has sobs in his voice when he talks about this fateful moment, when he learned of the death of his parents, but also of his sister, his brother-in-law and their children. “The wound is still there“, he said. It was December 26, the day after Christmas, and for loved ones, this date will never again be festive. This Saturday, December 21, 2024, families, local residents and elected officials gathered for a ceremony in tribute to the victims.
It was precisely 5:03 p.m. on December 26, 2004 when the building located at 12 rue de la Martre was reduced to nothing. The explosion was felt throughout the city. “It's like a bomb exploded” testifies Jean-Pierre Moppert whose brother-in-law is among the victims. Seventeen people killed, one of the deadliest explosions in France.
The explosion due to a gas leak occurred on December 26, 2004 at the end of the day. A four-story building was blown up.
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© France televisions
Car trest quickly l’assumption of a leak of gaz East mentioned, but fFaced with the despair of loved ones, Gaz de France denies any responsibility. However, the investigation will very quickly demonstrate that the tragedy was caused by the rupture of a gray cast iron pipe, a material already at the origin of a similar accident in 1999 in Dijon, and for which the gas worker had been convicted. .
Finally, at the end of an extraordinary trial, 15 days of hearing, 128 civil parties, Gaz de France was fined 232,000 euros. On the other hand, no manager will have been personally implicated for having decided to slow down the gray cast iron replacement program despite the risks involved.
Faced with the feeling of not having been heard, the Association of Victims of Rue de la Martre in Muhouse was created, and is fighting for the replacement of all gray cast iron pipes. This was done in 2007, but the association nevertheless regrets that nothing is done to hold elected officials and decision-makers criminally liable in the event of proven misconduct or proven failure to exercise caution.
