It was around 2:20 a.m. in the night from Thursday to Friday when the fire broke out on the ground floor of a building in Miramas (Bouches-du-Rhône), about sixty kilometers northwest of Marseilles. All four members of the family, the parents and their twins, were trapped by the flames and burned to varying degrees. The mother, 41, died of her injuries on Saturday, and her 5-year-old boy during the night, the Aix-en-Provence prosecutor announced on January 19. An investigation, entrusted to the Judicial Police, was opened for “murder, attempted murder by an organized gang and arson by an organized gang causing danger to people”.
The state of health of the little girl, still hospitalized, “no longer inspires concern”specified the Aix-en-Provence prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon. The father, burned on the face and hands according to firefighters, was able to leave the hospital.
The family circle studied
If it is certain that the apartment was “target” and that the fire was therefore deliberately started, the prosecutor did not give any information on the motives of the arsonist(s). “The investigation is still ongoing” for this “absolutely serious crime”, he simply said. The 11 other tenants of the seven-story building, evacuated and taken care of, were able to return to their homes, firefighters said – around fifty were mobilized to the scene.
According to information from Parisiana jerrycan containing a bottom of gasoline was found near the burned building. According to “concordant sources” interviewed by the daily, the investigation focuses on the entourage of the targeted family: a young man who is one of their relatives was recently released from prison, incarcerated for a kidnapping case. He is also suspected of being involved in local drug trafficking. The trail of a debt would be considered as a motive for the arsonists as part of the investigation.
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