A terrace collapsed in Seine-Maritime this Friday, January 17.
Above, around thirty high school students were partying and 11 were injured.
A high school student present at the time of the events testified to the TF1 news.
All that remains is a gaping hole from the festive evening. This brought together more than 30 high school students aged 15 to 17 in a house, ready to have fun, this Friday, January 17 in Bois-Guillaume, north of Rouen (Seine-Maritime). But the terrace on which they were located suddenly collapsed around 11 p.m., as shown in the TF1 news video at the top of this article.
61 firefighters mobilized
Still moved, a teenager present during the tragedy recounts what happened: “Suddenly, everyone went on the terrace, around thirty people. And the terrace collapsed. It’s shocking, it’s a little traumatic for everyone.”
The victims fell three to four meters high, landing on the asphalt. 11 injuries, including one serious, are to be deplored. 61 firefighters were mobilized, as well as six police vehicles. A mobile emergency and resuscitation structure (SMUR) was also deployed.
Residents are wondering about the circumstances of the accident. “30 people on a surface like that? It’s huge”a woman wonders. “It hurt my heart because I have a 17-year-old girl, she could have been there”assures a neighbor.
A fungus causing the accident?
The investigation is only just beginning and it will have to answer a lot of questions. Was this wooden terrace up to standard? In the images, a detail catches the eye of Jones Caron, carpenter: a mushroom on the boards. “The white spots are dry rot, that’s for sure. That’s why the lag screws or screws came off.” For this professional, several elements will have to determine the initial solidity of the structure: “The thickness of the wood in relation to the length of the terrace. There are standards to respect. And the screws, if they are stainless steel and not steel, so that they do not rust and end up not by giving in.”
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No offense has yet been noted by investigators, said the Rouen public prosecutor, Sébastien Gallois. At this stage, the collapse could be explained by too many people present at the same time on the terrace, located on the first floor of the house.
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