A mediator has been appointed by the Paris judicial court to obtain an agreement on compensation for victims of the deadly gas explosion on rue de Trévise in January 2019, this Wednesday, August 4.
To read also: "After the time of despair, the time of the judiciary": the victims of the explosion in the rue de Trévise still not compensated
"
Mediation is in place,
" confirmed Me Olivier Morice, lawyer for 17 civil parties, without giving more details on the content of his mission, while the victims denounce the slowness of compensation.
This mediation, proposed by the presidency of the Paris judicial tribunal, aims to bring together, if they accept it, the different parties (victims, City of Paris, condominiums, insurers, GRDF, etc.) in order to reach an agreement .
66 injured and 400 disaster victims
On the morning of January 12, 2019, a very strong explosion caused by a gas leak had blown the rue de Trévise, in the 9th arrondissement, killing four people including two firefighters, injuring 66 others and leaving some 400 victims.
“
Two and a half years later, we are at an impasse,
” regrets Dominique Paris, president of the Treviso ensemble association.
The framework agreement, claimed by the civil parties, can not be put in place, the city of Paris cannot compensate for damage until it is condemned by justice, she explains.
More than a hundred victims of the explosion had also taken GRDF to court in January for “
their right to full compensation to be established
” and a hearing had been set for September 1.
The investigation continues, the places inaccessible
"
It is likely that the hearing will be postponed because of the existence of this mediation
", nevertheless underlined Me Morice.
The two buildings devastated by the blast of the explosion are still inaccessible and their rehabilitation is delayed by prior road repair work which has not yet started, according to Ms. Paris.
In this investigation, carried out by Parisian examining magistrates, the Paris town hall and the property manager of the building were indicted for "
involuntary homicides and injuries
" and "
destruction, degradation or deterioration by the effect of 'an explosion or fire
'.
Experts appointed by the courts had noted, in a first report, “
failures
” of the city's road service, without incriminating GRDF. They had again pointed out a "
lack of vigilance
" on the part of the city of Paris, in their final report delivered in May 2020, and also questioned the building's co-ownership manager as well as Fayolle, the construction company responsible for November 2016 to carry out work on the sidewalk. The latter has been placed under the intermediary status of assisted witness in the ongoing investigation.