On June 22, 2016, a seven-year-old child was the victim of an accident during a treasure hunt organized at the Château de Vitré (Ille-et-Vilaine) as part of a birthday. While the child was looking for a clue, a cast iron plate from a chimney fell on his thumb, causing a compound fracture of a knuckle.
His parents made a request for compensation to the municipality in August 2020. They never responded. The parents then appealed to the administrative court to order the municipality to pay the sum of 25,490 euros in compensation for their damage.
The cast iron plate was not fixed
At the hearing on September 12, 2024, the applicants maintained that the cast iron plate was not anchored to the ground, which made it dangerous. What the municipality contested. However, the court notes that the injuries are indeed “attributable to the described crushing mechanism” and that the causal link is therefore “perfectly established. » The judges argue that the plaque should have been fixed or that the problem should have been reported as part of this treasure hunt. The maintenance of the public work is the responsibility of the City.
However, the court also notes that the two adults who supervised the activity demonstrated “failure” not having sufficiently enforced safety instructions. The judges therefore consider that the municipality is not responsible for the entire accident. In an order dated September 26, 2024 which has just been made public, the court therefore orders the municipality to pay the parents the sum of 5,093 euros for their damage and 800 euros for expert assessment costs. The municipality will also have to pay 1,804 euros to the CPAM to advance health costs.
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