The Marseille public prosecutor’s office confirmed on Wednesday April 12 that a complaint against X for manslaughter had been filed by Bruno Sinapi, the son of a couple in their eighties who lived at 17, rue de Tivoli, a building which collapsed in night from Saturday to Sunday.
In a testimony collected by France 2, the man accuses the neighbor of his parents, an 88-year-old lady who lived on the first floor and who according to him “lost his head” and “had recurring problems with the gas”. Mr. Sinapi calls into question the social services, which, still according to him, warned, would not have done anything concerning the gas.
On the side of the Municipal Center for Social Action (CCAS) of the city of Marseille, contacted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), we confirm that we have been alerted by the parents of the complainant, “worried about the social isolation” of their neighbor. A social worker from the service came to her house on March 30, in the presence of a volunteer from the Little Brothers of the Poor and her neighbors on the ground floor.
“It was then agreed to set up a household help, as well as to plan work in his bathroom, for accessibility issues. But the question of gas was never mentioned, ”we insist at the CCAS.
The hypothesis of a gas explosion
The judicial inquiry into the origins of the tragedy, opened for manslaughter, is still working “on the hypothesis of a gas explosion”, insisted on Tuesday the public prosecutor of Marseille, Dominique Laurens, stressing that only the apartments the ground floor and the first floor were equipped with them. Found among the rubble, the gas meter of the octogenarian who had “difficulties using gas equipment” according to Mr. Sinapi, was sent to GRDF so that possible “abnormal consumption in the 24 hours preceding the explosion”.
The explosion of the building, “extremely violent”, according to the public prosecutor of Marseille, occurred at 12:46 a.m. on the night of Saturday to Sunday, as evidenced by surveillance cameras. 17 rue de Tivoli, a building housing five apartments in a rather residential area of ??the city center, was totally destroyed.
Six victims extracted from the rubble
On Wednesday, the search continued to find the two residents still missing. A total of six dead bodies have already been extracted from the rubble of the building, four of which have been identified. Two victims are still being identified and two people are still missing.
After another night of searches, during which fifteen dump trucks continued to evacuate the rubble from number 17, “the operation is over”, Captain Christophe Guillemette, second in command of the battalion of Marseille firefighters. A total of 300 people, including several families, were evacuated as a precaution from the buildings around 17, rue de Tivoli.
