“But it is true that the closer the research is to the place of origin of the disaster and the more the analysis results arrive in this file, the more the accidental track is favored,” she underlined. The high magistrate also mentioned the new expertise requested by the investigating judges in 2023 “targeting what was found in the rubble, the starting point of the fire and the existing technical infrastructures in the cathedral”.
“No indictment”
These analyzes “were carried out, but given the extremely technical aspect, the investigating magistrates requested a summary”, she specified, that they be “brought together to see if it is possible to determine a possible cause of the fire,” said the prosecutor. Asked during the week, the Paris prosecutor's office clarified that the investigation was still in progress, adding: “The investigating judge ordered an expertise requesting 3D modeling of the start of the flame from the images that were taken during the facts. This modeling will make it possible to compare the different hypotheses.”
JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
“No indictment has been issued” to date, said the public prosecutor, while a source close to the case indicated that the end of the investigation was approaching. At the end of the preliminary investigation, before the referral to the investigating magistrates, the Paris prosecutor at the time, Rémy Heitz, indicated favoring the accidental track, evoking a poorly extinguished cigarette butt or an electrical malfunction. Nothing seems to support the criminal trail since then. “Over the past year, all of the areas have been cleared” without nevertheless revealing “any new element likely to be exploited,” a judicial source underlined in mid-2023.
Lead pollution
On April 15, 2019, the building, more than 850 years old and famous throughout the world, then undergoing restoration work, caught fire and lost its spire, its roof, its clock and part of its vault, which were destroyed. by the flames. Several failures in the cathedral's security were identified, notably in the building's alarm system – which contributed to delaying the call to the firefighters on the day of the fire – or in the electrical system of a elevators.
These malfunctions were probably not the cause of the fire, but could have allowed the flames to spread throughout the building. Since March 2023, justice has also been investigating the potentially harmful consequences for health of this fire with global impact. In this judicial investigation also still in progress, no indictment has been issued either, specified the Paris prosecutor's office.
CHRISTOPHE ENA / AFP
“Overview”
Two Parisian investigating judges are thus seized of the complaint filed in June 2022 by the Henri Pézerat association for the defense of health in connection with work and the environment, the CGT and two parents of students, accusing the authorities of not having taken all precautions to avoid contamination linked to lead pollution caused by the fire. The complainants were concerned about the fall to the ground of the 400 tonnes of lead, a toxic heavy metal, from the roof and spire of Notre-Dame which went up in smoke, or “nearly four times the annual emissions of lead in the atmosphere, throughout France.
