Heard in police custody Wednesday, the owner and manager of the amusement park Saint-Paul, in Oise, was indicted for manslaughter by manifestly deliberate violation of an obligation of safety or prudence. On Saturday, a 32-year-old woman died after being thrown out of "Formula 1", a roller coaster ride.
Gilles Campion, president of the park, was left free, without judicial control. "This indictment satisfies us, it will allow us to have access to the file to defend ourselves properly," he told AFP.
Seat belts removed
According to the prosecutor of the Republic of Beauvais, Florent Boura, an expert opinion of the armory "highlighted that the victim had fallen despite the apparently normal functioning of the safety bar". A technical safety check carried out in November 2019 by an approved company "had not given rise to any observation concerning the proper functioning of the ride or its safety".
"The expertise and hearings of the amusement park staff did however reveal that seat belts, installed in the arena following a previous fatal accident in 2009, had been removed just before the reopening, beginning June, from the park. "
A grinded notch on the safety bars
"According to the expert, the belts would have prevented people of heavy build, such as the victim, from being thrown from the ride," reports the prosecutor. “In addition, the expert was able to note that the first notch of each safety bar had been ground, so as not to allow access to the carousel to people of very large build. "
In police custody, Gilles Campion recognized these various elements, according to the prosecution. However, "these modifications to the security arrangements should in any event have led the manager of Parc Saint-Paul to request a new security check".
Already a fatal accident in 2009
In 2009, an accident on this same attraction had already caused a victim, a 35-year-old woman killed after being ejected and dropped by ten meters. The park management had been dismissed after the investigation.
In the summer of 2005, just a few weeks after it was put into service, eleven people were slightly injured when a car hit two other stopped cars after a brake failure. Gilles Campion wants to dismantle this ride when the investigation is finished.
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Oise: Woman dies after falling from amusement park ride
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