affected residents authorized to return to their homes this Friday

A gas leak caused a serious explosion in this street in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, killing four people and injuring 66 on January 12, 2019.

More than five and a half years after the violent explosion on Rue de Trévise, some affected residents will return to their homes this Friday, November 1, as revealed by our colleagues from France Inter on Thursday, October 31.

These are in particular the residents of 6 rue de Trévise, the precise location of the explosion, who are officially authorized to return to their homes from this Friday, according to the victims' association Trévise Ensemble, after a site meeting held on Thursday October 31 during which the final green light was given to the victims.

“Some [riverains] will not come back”

At the end of August, the Paris town hall assured that “the final work on the various networks (sanitation, electricity, gas, telecoms, drinking water) and the temporary repair of the roads” would be finished by November 1, 2024.

According to France Inter, the victims of 4 rue de Trévise will have to wait longer before they too are allowed to return to their apartment. Energy connection work still needs to be carried out. The residents of the 13 housing units at 13 rue Sainte-Cécile, close to the site of the explosion, will have to wait until the beginning of January to return to settle in.

Dominique Paris, president of the Trévise Ensemble owners' association, stressed to AFP at the end of August that “some [riverains] will not return” to their home, nevertheless specifying at the time that she was in the process of “planning the returns”.

Towards a trial for Paris town hall?

In this case, a lawsuit was requested against the City of Paris and the co-ownership trustee for a series of breaches.

The prosecution requests that the Paris town hall and the building's co-ownership trustee be tried before the criminal court for “homicides and involuntary injuries”, prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced on October 17 in a press release.

The public prosecutor also requires that they appear for “unintentional destruction by the effect of an explosion or fire”.

It is now up to the investigating judges to decide whether or not to hold a trial.