The remand center of Saintes in Charente-Maritime and its 92 detainees began to be evacuated "
as a preventive measure
" on Friday, February 5 in the afternoon while the city is affected by the overflow of the Charente river, announced the prefecture.
Read also: Floods in Lot-et-Garonne: Castex wants the state of natural disaster to be declared quickly
The evacuation of this late 19th century building located in the city center, on the right bank of the Charente, began in the middle of the afternoon “
as a preventive measure
”, to “
allow all the detainees and the personnel are safe
”in other nearby establishments, underlined the prefecture of Charente-Maritime, which remained Friday afternoon placed in vigilance orange floods by Météo France.
"
The idea is not to end up with difficulties in the weekend
", justified the same source.
In this department which expects new precipitation this weekend, the level of the Charente continues to rise on sections of the river, in particular between Angoulême and Saintes, where water is invited into the houses.
The remand center counts among its detainees the ex-surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec, awaiting his appeal trial after his conviction in December to 15 years of criminal imprisonment in a case of rape and sexual assault on four minors, first part of a vast pedophilia case involving hundreds of potential victims.