Nantes (AFP)

The government announced on Friday an audit of Orange's network and services after the gigantic outage of emergency numbers, and justice will investigate the cause of several deaths that occurred during this incident, including that of a 28-year-old child. months in Vendée.

An audit "to control the security and integrity of the network and services of Orange" will be launched, announced Friday the Ministry of the Interior, which closed the interministerial crisis unit opened Wednesday.

"Reinforced surveillance will however remain in place as far as necessary", added the ministry.

The conclusions of this audit, led by the National Information Systems Security Agency (Anssi), are expected within two months.

"The situation is back under control as I speak," Prime Minister Jean Castex assured in the morning, after having chaired the interministerial crisis unit.

"We deplore the victims who are likely to have been caused by this serious incident", added Jean Castex, specifying that there were "four, subject of course to what the inquiries will say, in particular the judicial inquiries which are open ".

On Friday, three deaths that could be linked to the breakdown of emergency numbers had been observed in metropolitan France - in Morbihan, Haute-Saône and Vendée - and another on Reunion Island.

- Judicial and administrative inquiries -

In Vendée, a 28-month-old child died Thursday morning at the family home.

His mother had failed to reach the emergency services in time.

The Roche-sur-Yon prosecutor's office on Friday opened an investigation for "research into the causes of death".

According to the director of the ARS Pays de la Loire Jean-Jacques Coiplet, the mother of the child had tried "for an hour to join unsuccessfully on the 18th and then on the 15th" before the first call received by the Samu at 8:21 am.

In Vannes, the Vannes prosecutor's office also opened an investigation on Thursday "in search of the causes of death" after the death of a 63-year-old man in the Vannes hospital on Wednesday evening.

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Originally from the country of Auray, he died of a cardio-vascular arrest after being taken to hospital by his wife, who was unable to contact the emergency services.

A third case, this time in Haute-Saône, led the public prosecutor to open a judicial investigation.

A 77-year-old man died and "it is likely" that this death occurred "in the context of the national breakdown of emergency numbers," said the ARS of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and the prefecture on Friday in a report. communicated.

Finally, on the island of Reunion, a man "had a cardio-respiratory arrest resulting in his death" Wednesday evening after the unsuccessful attempts of his wife to join the 15th.

"The absence of direct contact between the wife and the Samu, due to network problems, will not have made it possible to precisely characterize the medical situation of the victim before the engagement of help," explained the prefecture on Thursday in a statement.

Administrative inquiries were also carried out by the authorities.

For its part, the telephone operator Orange has launched an "in-depth" internal investigation, the conclusions of which are expected within seven days, the group announced Friday, whose CEO Stéphane Richard had presented "strong apologies" to those affected.

Mr. Richard had ruled out a cyberattack.

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© 2021 AFP