Was it a burglary gone wrong, or a break-in committed with the aim of setting a fire? For the manager of Bridal Showroom, a wedding dress boutique installed since 2020 on rue des Fabricants, a stone’s throw from the town hall, the result is the same: four years of work gone up in smoke. “ It was my box, my baby », laments Chafika Boukrouh hotly, distraught. Inside this very chic boutique, with chandeliers, fireplace and ceiling moldings, the walls are blackened and the dresses are burned. Some were to beautify brides this weekend.
Around 11 p.m., the manager was among customers, on a wedding service, when she was alerted by the security company which manages remote security. An individual had entered the premises. She shows us the images captured by the cameras, which show a man with a masked face, wandering around the premises. A student who lives in the apartments on the upper floor of the building saw the man surreptitiously enter the building after her. “ His face was covered with a cloth, only his eyes could be seen. “, she testifies. He then had to force the door of the store.
Five students relocated
The rest is told by a neighbor: he saw smoke invading his apartment and alerted the firefighters. “ There was a pungent smell of rubber », he describes. Around fifteen firefighters from Roubaix rushed to put out the fire, which devastated the 60 m² of the store. There was no spread to the upper floors, but the five students who live in the building had to leave their accommodation then spend the night elsewhere, while the smoke leaves their apartment.
