Le Figaro Marseille
It was a closure expected by the parents of students at Saint-Mitre elementary school (13th arrondissement), whose children have been facing the presence of bedbugs in their classrooms for two weeks.
The affair, reported by France Bleu Provence, and confirmed to Le
Figaro
by the rectorate of the Aix-Marseille academy, led to the temporary closure of the establishment this Monday.
The insects were detected there for the first time on March 12 in a classroom, before it was treated only a few days later.
On March 21, bedbugs were reportedly seen in a second classroom, provoking a mobilization of parents.
Presence of a sniffer dog
The latter were received by the town hall last Friday to express their dissatisfaction, the problem persisting despite initial treatment.
By decision of the town hall, the school was closed this Monday in order to carry out the intervention of a specialized company accompanied by a sniffer dog.
“All of the buildings”
had to be inspected by the city of Marseille services to
“confirm the absence of bedbugs”
.
“To date, the suspicion of the presence of a bedbug in another classroom, adjacent to the one that the City services effectively treated, could not be confirmed, the insect found having been destroyed before the move municipal teams. During its last visit, the
sniffer dog had not noted any trace of pests in the place where the bedbug would have been found
,” details the town hall in a press release, promising that it
“observes close monitoring of the situation alongside the families to support them
.
This is not the first time that bedbugs have been detected in a Marseille school.
In October 2023, these psychosis-causing insects were discovered in a classroom at the Joséphine Baker college, located in the 3rd arrondissement of the city.
Here again, the students of the establishment had been evacuated and the college treated.