Five years after the devastating fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, the origin of the conflagration remains opaque. Although the restoration work has restored the building to its former splendor, the judicial investigation has still not delivered a definitive conclusion. If the accidental track seems favored, several gray areas remain, and experts continue to examine all the hypotheses. Justice, while continuing its investigations, will have to answer this crucial question: why did the jewel of Paris burn?
The investigation, launched in the first hours of the fire, involved hundreds of people, from the criminal brigade to specialized experts. Everyone scrutinized every detail, inspected the rubble, analyzed thousands of samples. Despite this intense painstaking work, the investigators were unable to identify any concrete elements allowing them to conclude that there was a criminal cause. “ Nothing indicates a voluntary act », Declared, in 2019, prosecutor Rémy Heitz. However, the question remains open: if an accident, what is the trigger?
A digital reconstruction to unravel the mystery
To date, the exact origin of the fire has been located in the attic of the cathedral, at the level of the spire drawn by Viollet-le-Duc. But the causes remain unclear. No poorly extinguished cigarette butts or traces of short circuits were found. In order to better understand the circumstances of the tragedy, 3D modeling is underway. This work should make it possible to compare the different hypotheses and to better understand the conditions which led to the conflagration.
If the hypothesis of an accident seems more and more likely, investigators are not neglecting the possibility of a plurality of causes. This could involve the civil liability of different actors: workers, maintenance technicians or maintenance agents. Although the lack of evidence currently prevents any indictment, the question of civil liability could resurface, with the possibility of heavy compensation for those responsible..
The Notre-Dame construction site: between dysfunctions and human errors
Along with the fire itself, several malfunctions were revealed during the investigation. The management of the site showed flaws, particularly with regard to security systems. A first alarm failed to detect the start of the fire, and a second alert, triggered too late, did not allow a sufficiently rapid intervention. This delay undoubtedly aggravated the extent of the damage.
Five years after the Notre-Dame tragedy, the investigation remains suspended between hypotheses and uncertainties. If no formal proof has made it possible to attribute the disaster to a criminal act, civil responsibilities could well emerge at the end of the procedure. In the meantime, all French people are keeping their eyes glued to the reopening of the monument, scheduled for December 8.
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