Almost two and a half years after the terrible explosion which left four dead, dozens injured and several hundred victims in the rue de Trévise, in Paris (IXth), additional legal expertise drives the point home.
According to our information, the experts confirm the questioning of the city of Paris as well as the failings of the trustee in charge of the management of the building at 6, rue de Trévise, in front of which the explosion occurred.
But a new fact, it also calls into question the role of the sewer workers, who intervened years earlier.
As a reminder, a first expertise has already pointed out the "shortcomings" and "failures" of the trustee as well as of the road service of the town hall of Paris.
The City and the trustee have since been indicted for “involuntary homicides and injuries” as well as for “destruction, degradation or deterioration by the effect of an explosion or fire”.
To read also Drama of the street of Trévise: "The situation is worse than after the explosion", according to a survivor
The city of Paris had requested a second opinion, in vain.
The investigating judges, however, ordered additional expertise.
The result was expected at the end of May and has finally just been paid for instruction.
According to our information, the experts incriminate the lack of responsiveness of the syndic to urgently repair a defective wastewater collector, as well as the vigilance of the sewer workers to whom a leak would have escaped.
An intervention by the sewer workers in 2015 questioned
The explosion was the result of a collapse of the sidewalk, linked to a leak from the wastewater collector.
This collector had been defective for several years, with foul odors reported by residents.
The sewer workers intervened in 2015, without however detecting the presence of a leak in the circuit carrying the wastewater.
As for the City of Paris, it should have launched investigations to find the origin of the collapse of the roadway.
At this stage, the experts do not question GRDF's responsibility for the explosion.
And rule out that of the company Fayolle, intervened for work on the road, but not mandated to find the causes of the subsidence.
At the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, we refuse to comment on these new legal developments.
“The judicial information covered by the secrecy of the investigation is in progress, the City collaborates closely with the judicial authority in order to understand the unfolding and the sequence of the facts, and will bring all the useful answers to the investigating judge when 'it will be notified of these elements.
The lawyers have one month to comment.
Dominique Paris, the president of the association of disaster victims Trévise Ensemble, hopes that “this report will not delay compensation yet.
The survivors and relatives of the deceased denounce the absence of collective proceedings to accelerate compensation, as is generally the case in the aftermath of tragedies.
A meeting was held on this subject at the Chancellery, Thursday, June 10, where only insurers and the City of Paris were invited. “It was a working meeting, which made it possible to exchange information,” explains Frédérique Calandra, interministerial delegate for victim assistance, who was in charge of the meeting. The next step will be to bring together the victims, associations and their councils, as quickly as possible. She hopes to be able to make an appointment before mid-July. "We are alongside the victims," we repeat to the City of Paris. As we have said, we will stick to it whatever the developments on the judicial side. "
