The people of Rouen will remember the night of September 26, 2019 for a long time. A gigantic fire had ravaged the sites of the Lubrizol factory (classified Seveso, high threshold) and those of Normandie Logistique (a product storage warehouse), in the agglomeration of Rouen.
More than 9,500 tons of potentially toxic products burned, causing immense black smoke.
According to the conclusions of the additional expert report requested by the investigating judges of the Paris court, in charge of the criminal investigation, the fire started well at Lubrizol, reports
Le Monde
.
No conclusions on the cause of the fire
The Lubrizol company, however indicted for “endangering others”, has constantly denied being the cause of the fire, pointing the finger at its neighbor, Normandie Logistique.
“The spread of the fire from the Normandie Logistique right-of-way to Lubrizol is a very strongly minimized hypothesis”
, affirm however the experts in the additional expertise, entrusted to the National Gendarmerie Criminal Research Institute (IRCGN), and consulted by
Le Monde.
After analyzing video recordings, photos, personnel reports for a year, as well as studies on alarm and detection systems, the investigators confirmed
"the fire starting zone initially selected"
and favor the hypothesis of a start in an outdoor storage yard.
Read alsoClassified as dangerous, Seveso industrial sites are subject to special monitoring
Experts, however, were unable to determine the cause of the fire.
“The complementary study does not provide tangible and factual elements useful for the manifestation of the truth”
, is it specified in the report, according to
Le Monde.
However, two hypotheses are preferred: an
“accidental technical cause”
or
“a cause linked to human intervention”.