A trial has been requested against the Paris town hall for “homicides and involuntary injuries” in the explosion on Rue Trévise. It is now up to the investigating judges to decide whether or not to hold a criminal trial.
A trial for homicide and involuntary injuries has been requested against the Paris town hall and the condominium trustee for the explosion on rue de Trévise which left four dead and more than 200 injured in January 2019, the prosecutor announced on Thursday.
In its indictment signed on Monday, the public prosecutor requests that the City of Paris and the trustee also be judged before the criminal court “for involuntary destruction by the effect of an explosion or fire”, specifies Laure Beccuau in a press release. . It is now up to the investigating judges to decide whether or not to hold a criminal trial.
“Breach of a security obligation”
On January 12, 2019, rue de Trévise in the 9th arrondissement, an explosion killed four people, including two firefighters, injured more than 200 people and left around 400 victims.
“The City of Paris is accused of having committed errors of imprudence and negligence, by not carrying out the necessary investigations to determine the cause of the subsidence of the sidewalk in front of the porch of n°6 rue de Trévise, and by not carrying out the work necessary to remedy it,” explains Ms. Beccuau.
This subsidence led to the rupture of a gas pipe which caused the explosion. “He is also accused of breaching an obligation of safety or prudence imposed by law or regulation, for not having carried out monitoring checks on the repairs to the sidewalk in front of the porch in accordance with the road regulations of the City of Paris in 2015”, adds the prosecutor.
The trustee is suspected of having committed “a reckless or negligent mistake consisting of delaying the repair of the building’s wastewater collector” even though he had been informed “as soon as the November 25, 2015 of a wastewater leak”, she continues. “These failings contributed” to the occurrence of the explosion, concludes Ms. Beccuau.
No prosecution for GRDF
A judicial investigation was opened at the end of January 2019. The Paris town hall and the building’s co-ownership trustee were indicted during the procedure for “homicides and involuntary injuries” and “destruction, degradation or deterioration by the effect of an explosion or fire.
The construction company Fayolle, responsible for the work on the sidewalk in November 2016, had for its part been placed under the more favorable status of assisted witness. GRDF is not targeted by any lawsuit.
Related News :