43 people lost their lives in the October 23 accident in Puisseguin.

/ AFP PHOTO / MEHDI FEDOUACH -

AFP

  • Five years ago, a collision between a semi-trailer and a bus carrying retirees on excursion left 43 people dead.

  • The instruction seems to exclude the responsibility of the manufacturer of the bus and the prospect of a lawsuit recedes.

  • The survivors of the accident want to understand what happened and in particular why the fire took so quickly, leaving little chance for the retirees trapped inside.

Five years after the death of 43 people in a bus accident on October 23, 2015, in Puisseguin, in Gironde, the prospect of a trial is fading.

On this small road in Gironde, in the heart of the Saint-Emilion vineyards, the bend was tight, limited to 90 km / h, but without heavy liability for accidents.

The pavement was wet, but it was not raining.

A semi-trailer traveling at 75 km / h swerved to the left, jacking it up, and hitting a bus of retirees on an excursion, coming in the opposite direction, which caught fire very quickly.

Most of the victims belonged to the third age club in the neighboring village of Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps.

Their compensation had been rapid, ie 11 million euros in total, with a first recognition, in an amicable framework, of the prejudice of anxiety of the survivors and the prejudice of waiting for relatives of victims.

But as a fifth anniversary approaches with commemorations reduced due to Covid, "unanswered questions" still haunt people's minds: "Why has the fire caught so quickly?

“Asks Michel Vigier, president of the victims' collective.

The judicial investigation, initially targeted on the additional tank of diesel fuel on the back of the truck's cabin, and not approved, concluded that it had played a "negligible role", according to a source familiar with the matter.

"The victims need an explanation"

In 2017, the administrative investigation of the transport accident investigation office (BEA-TT) attributed the “direct cause” of the accident to “a loss of control” of the truck in the bend.

He recommended strengthening the standards in coaches on the resistance of materials to fire (fabrics, interior plastics), and introducing them on the toxicity of gases resulting from their combustion, stressing that these factors could have increased the balance sheet.

However, the colossal judicial inquiry led by the sole investigating judge of Libourne held that "the equipment of the coach [built by Mercedes] complied with the regulations in force", according to the prosecution.

"It is a blank check for the manufacturer, it amounts to saying that these people died legally," laments Me Marie Mescam, lawyer for 160 civil parties.

"The shock was light, the victims need explanations beyond that of a simple traffic accident", adds Me Antoine Chambolle, who represents 140. In February, the judge of Libourne advised them that ' he put an end to his investigations, without having retained any indictments, which eliminates the prospects of a criminal trial.

The lawyers then asked the judge to extend the investigations on the basis of an expert report supposed to support Mercedes' failings, which he refused.

The prosecutor of Libourne Olivier Kern indicates that he will receive the parts of "by the end of the year to expose the position of the public prosecutor" on the file.

The only real breakthrough according to the victims, an amendment will make safety information brochures mandatory in coaches from 2022, like those that exist on planes.

Justice

Puisseguin coach accident: the investigation completed without indictment

Bordeaux

Gironde: Four years after the tragedy of Puisseguin, weariness takes precedence within the collective of victims

  • Road accident

  • Aquitaine

  • Justice

  • Bordeaux

  • Accident

  • Puisseguin