Le Figaro Nice
Almost a month ago, on 12 October, Gérard Manzanares, an agent of the Métropole de Nice assigned to the collection and waste collection service, was found dead in his apartment in Nice after neighbours raised the alarm. This single man without children, just 60 years old, lived alone and above all far from his family, who do not live in the Alpes-Maritimes department. A cousin would call him from time to time, but that's about it. Since 2021, he had been on sick leave following a stroke that had severely disabled him.
According to the Samu doctor who was dispatched to the apartment on 14 October, the death occurred on 3 August, almost three months before the body was discovered. Since no one had requested it within the legal period of one week prior to the burial, the body of the sixty-year-old was taken care of by the town hall. In such circumstances, it is customary for the municipality to try to get in touch with relatives, even if there is no legal obligation to do so. But not here. Gérard Manzanares' sisters, in particular, were not warned.
Gérard Manzanares worked in the collection and waste collection department of the Métropole de Nice. Personal Collection
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A Complaint Considered
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An administrative investigation, provided for in such cases, has been conducted, in accordance with the law. However, civil registrars do not have investigative powers. Only accessible files can be consulted," argues Bertrand Sourrisseau, director of human resources for the city of Nice. The HRD clarified that two family members had been identified, but that they too had died. "Without an identified family and as provided for by law, the municipality took charge of the burial of the deceased," he said.
In the end, the metropolitan employee's family did not learn of his death until several days after his burial was held in a location in the eastern cemetery in Nice. His colleagues were not warned either. According to a relative of the deceased, he wanted to be laid to rest in Le Pradet, in the Var, next to his twin brother and his father. "If there is no reparation, i.e. cremation at the crematorium and repatriation to the Pradet cemetery, the family will file a complaint. We are waiting for a proper response," she said. "Of course, as provided by law, the family can now have a funeral ceremony and burial carried out according to its wishes at the expense of the community. We will support the family as best we can and will be by their side," the city promises.
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Discrepancy of dates
Another issue is the date of Gérard Manzanares' death. While the Samu doctor had initially dated it to August 3 in a first death certificate, a second act pushed it back to September 15 after a relative certified that he had spoken with him by phone on September 19. That is, four days after his presumed death... In any event, such an amendment to a death certificate should have been submitted to a judge, which was not the case here. 'The registrar may rectify an error relating to the date of death in a civil status certificate directly on production of a death certificate. Since the decree of May 6, 2017, the civil registrar is directlyauthorized to carry them out, in particular for the date of death," the City Hall further justifies. Thus, the new date was the subject of an entry at the bottom of the deceased's death certificate, entitled 'amending note'.