The loss to the association, which helps 42,000 people, is nearly 500,000 euros. The criminal trail is being considered.
Joseph Pronesti still can’t believe it. The president of the Gard Food Bank not only noted the tragedy: the fire of the association’s six refrigerated trucks on the night of Wednesday November 27 to Thursday November 28 in Nîmes. This Thursday, only the carcasses of these vehicles were visible, in the parking lot where they were parked.
“A vehicle like this costs 70,000 euros. If I add up all the trucks that burned, it’s the equivalent of 480,000 euros,” he explains on BFMTV.
When he returned home after seeing the damage the night of the fire, he said he was overcome by emotion: “I was crying like a kid,” he says. Sadness soon followed by the mobilization from which the Food Bank was quickly able to benefit: “As if by magic, at 8 a.m., solidarity began.”
A company donates a refrigerated truck
Elected officials and businesses located nearby actually came to the aid of Joseph Pronesti and his teams very quickly. Pierre Sollier, a food wholesaler, did not hesitate to donate one of his refrigerated trucks: “Everyone has their own possibilities, for me they are not great. Having one less refrigerated truck will not make me richer, but the donation makes me happier,” he sums up to our microphone.
To cope with these losses and continue its mission of collecting food for the benefit of 42,000 people in the department, the Gard Food Bank has launched a call for donations and an online fundraiser is available.
The possibility of arson is being considered, the prosecutor’s office told France 3. Jospeh Pronesti declared that video surveillance cameras from a neighboring establishment made it possible to see an individual setting fire to the vehicles.
Donovan Dozon, Clément Gauvin with Glenn Gillet
