IN PICTURES – In Paris, the residents of rue de Trévise are back home, almost six years after the explosion

A return home, rue de Trévise, after almost 6 years of absence: after the explosion which devastated the 9th arrondissement of the capital in January 2019, some of the victims began to return home. For the moment, only the residents of number 6 of the street, around twenty families, are concerned. On January 12, 2019, a gas leak caused a large explosion on rue de Trévise: four people died in the tragedy, including two firefighters, and 66 people were injured. In total, the explosion left more than 200 injured and 400 victims. In this case, a trial was requested against the city of Paris and the co-ownership trustee for homicides and involuntary injuries, and for several breaches.

Numbers 4 and 6 rue de Trévise have been renovated, the result of many years of work. Since Monday November 4, some residents have therefore reinvested in their old apartment, not without a certain apprehension of returning to these places. “We started unpacking a lot of boxes“, smiles Vanessa, in her living room. Furniture, books, decorative objects, everything is returning to its place little by little.”The crazy thing is that at first, I wanted to change the location of the furniture, not put everything back in exactly the same place, but when I took things out of the boxes, I found myself repositioning everything in the same place , as if everything had to return to its place.”

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Years of administrative hassle

Vanessa was at home with her husband, her 12 year old son, her 11 year old daughter and a friend of her daughteron the fifth floor of 6 rue de Trévise, when the explosion took place on the morning of January 12. “We were sleeping, we were woken up by the explosion without understanding what was happening. You immediately put yourself in survival order: see the children, check that everything is okay, and then we waited an hour and a half on the balcony before the firefighters came to pick us up.“, remembers Vanessa, who speaks of firefighters as her “guardian angels” that day.

After the shock of the explosion, there will come the administrative complications, the insurance files, the search for housing while waiting for the work on rue de Trévise. Vanessa’s family has moved seven times in almost six years. “We end up having a phobia of boxes… For the moment, we haven’t moved back here yet, it’s because my husband and I want the apartment to be completely ready to welcome the family, before moving back in.“, explains Vanessa.

Some, on the other hand, have already reinvested in their old apartment: this is the case of Odile, helped by her daughter in all her efforts since the explosion. “She also helped me a lot to move back in, without her I wouldn’t be here today.“, sighs the octogenarian. “After the tragedy, we moved into a small furnished apartment, with my husband, who died a few months after the explosion. You know, the covid crisis, all that, it almost didn’t mark me, it didn’t move me: it’s as if at that moment, my mind was absent, I was floating above it all.” Today, Odile is delighted to be back home and “even though the first night here was difficult, it will get better and better and I can’t wait to be able to celebrate Christmas here again with the whole family.”

“Aberrant” situation, for the inhabitants of number 4

But not all street residents are in the same situation: those in number 4 still cannot return home. In question : the company which carried out the work in rue de Trévise is claiming 200,000 euros still unpaid and due, from the building’s insurance, which has not paid, according to the information obtained by the residents. “This is a completely absurd situation.“, contests Dominique Paris, resident at 4 rue de Trévise and president of the Trévise Ensemble association, which brings together residents of 4 and 6. “As long as the insurance does not pay, we will not have the right to enter our own building, we do not have our keys or our digital code to enter, all for the sake of money, while We have been told for two or three months that we would return home at the beginning of November. This is absurd!“

She reported the problem at the town hall of the 9th arrondissement, which opened a crisis unit to manage the situation – “since the beginning, the mayor of the 9th arrondissement and her team have been absolutely dedicated to helping us“, adds Dominique Paris. “And I want to say that without the support of our residents association, it would be really very hard to hold on in these moments..” Vanessa, who co-founded the Trévise Ensemble association with Dominiqueadds: “In all this horror, there will still have been some positives: the friends we had have become even closer friends, the links we had with the other residents, who were just neighbors before the explosion, are become stronger.”

Residents of number 4 hope to return home as soon as possible. Removals at number 6 will continue throughout the month of November. On the other hand, some former residents have already said that they would not return to live in the street, too scarred by the explosion almost six years ago.