The Paris prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, requested this Thursday the referral of the City to the criminal court for “homicides and involuntary injuries” and “involuntary destruction by the effect of an explosion or fire”, in the case of the explosion in rue de Trévise (9th), which occurred on January 12, 2019.
In a press release published this Thursday, October 17, the Paris public prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, requested the referral of the City of Paris and the simplified joint stock company (SAS) CIPA to the criminal court, as part of the Judicial information relating to the explosion that occurred at 6 rue de Trévise (9th arrondissement) on January 12, 2019, which caused four deaths and injured more than 200 people.
Thus, the offenses charged against the City are “homicide and involuntary injuries” and “unintentional destruction by the effect of an explosion or fire”.
Still according to the press release, the public prosecutor’s office accuses the City of Paris “on the one hand, 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 neighbor of n°6 rue de Trévise, by not carrying out the work necessary to remedy it”.
In fact, this subsidence had led to the rupture of a gas pipe which caused the explosion. On the other hand, the Paris public prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, pointed out a “breach of an obligation of security or prudence imposed by law or regulation” on the part of the City “for not having carried out follow-up control of repairs to the sidewalk in front of the porch.
Concerning the simplified joint stock company (SAS) CIPA, it is accused of having committed a “reckless or negligent act consisting of delaying the repair of the building’s wastewater collector, when that she had been informed on November 25, 2015 of a wastewater leak.
Plus 8 million euros paid to victims by the end of the year
“This water leak had led to undermining under the sidewalk at 6 rue de Trévise and the subsidence causing the rupture of the gas pipe,” concluded the Paris prosecutor’s office, specifying that it “now belongs it is up to the investigating judges to decide on the direction of the case.”
For its part, the City of Paris announced that it was “taking note of the position of the public prosecutor made public today”.
“The City refers to the upcoming decision of the judges, who will have all the legal and material elements to render their decision. The City wishes to fully contribute to the manifestation of the truth and will continue to be at the disposal of justice, as it was able to do by transmitting the report of the General Inspection of the City ordered immediately after the tragedy,” wrote the City of Paris in a press release.
She also specified that “by the end of the year, the City will have paid more than 8 million euros to the victims in order to compensate them for the damage suffered”.
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