The hearing of the appeal trial of the Millas tragedy resumed this Thursday at 9 a.m. before the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal.
At the end of this report, the expert believes that there cannot be certainty about the explanations for the three shocks observed on the barrier.
“The impact that I observe does not correspond to the hypothesis where we force the barrier on the road side.”
Three damages observed on the barrier: a rupture of the barrier on the rail side, a crushing of 60 cm coming from a frontal impact on the road side and a dent coming from a lateral impact.
According to the LNE’s assessment, the impact suffered by the barrier took place on the road side.
Searches for traces of paint were carried out. Blue traces were observed. “These blue marks were observed directly on the glass fibers of the barrier, behind the white paint of the barrier.
Three deteriorations of the barrier were observed by LNE experts. The expert explains how they proceeded to examine the barrier. It was first put back together because it was broken. Then, they observed the damage on both sides of the barrier: the road side and the rail side.
It is the turn of an expert from the National Metrology and Testing Laboratory (LNE) who takes the stand. She was required to analyze the level crossing barrier and its mechanism in order to “determine in what direction the impacts had on the barrier, the base and the support”.
End of the hearing of this witness
A witness takes the stand. On December 14, 2017, she was on a bus located behind that of Nadine Oliveira. She is now 18 years old. In a statement given just after the accident, she said the barriers were up. “Today, I can’t certify anything. Maybe my childish brain wanted to modify the truth to make it easier to accept.” “It’s easier to accept to say that the barriers were lifted because we could then say that it was a real accident.”
09h12.
The president: “So the debates continue” in the absence of the defendant still hospitalized this Thursday morning
Me Fagniez declares that Nadine Oliveira gave power of representation to her lawyers. “This allows the debates to continue.”
The hearing resumes
The hearing resumes this Thursday. The defendant is not present. Yesterday a medical examination was ordered. The president of the court reads a medical certificate from the head of the Aix-en-Provence hospital: Nadine Oliveira is still hospitalized.
The children demand an “apology” from the bus driver, in vain…
Despite the poignant testimonies of the children victims of the terrible collision in Millas and despite all the precautions taken to question her, the school bus driver stubbornly stuck to her version this Wednesday, October 9, 2024 before the Court of Appeal of ‘Aix-en-Provence. Before breaking down and leaving the trial with the firefighters.
08h13.
The hearing is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m.
What can happen this Thursday when the hearing resumes?
Pending a medical assessment, the president of the court suspended the hearing until Thursday, October 10, at 9 a.m. Will the trial be able to resume without her? Elements of response.
As in 2022, the bus driver collapses and is evacuated to the hospital
On the third day of the trial into the Millas drama, at the end of a morning overloaded with tension and emotion, this Wednesday, October 9, 2024, the sound of pain, mixed with anger and exhaustion, broke out in the room of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal. Following the school bus driver’s illness and her evacuation by emergency services, the hearing was suspended until Thursday morning. Leaving uncertainty, particularly for the victims, regarding the continuation of the debates.
Bonjour
Suspended yesterday afternoon after the defendant felt unwell, the hearing is due to resume this morning at 9 a.m.
