Lionel Gougelot (special correspondent in Charleroi), edited by Solène Leroux 8:10 a.m., June 8, 2022, modified at 8:14 a.m., June 8, 2022
Charleroi shaves the house of Marc Dutroux.
It was in the Marcinelle district that Sabine Dardenne and Laetitia Delhez were discovered and narrowly saved in August 1996. Four other little girls or teenagers were not so lucky, in particular Julie and Mélissa, kidnapped in 1995, abandoned and dead. hungry in the cellar.
REPORTAGE
Twenty-six years later, the city of Charleroi decided to raze the house of Marc Dutroux.
A house of horror where the monster has sequestered and even walled up some of its young victims.
It was in Marcinelle, a district of Charleroi, that Sabine Dardenne and Laetitia Delhez were discovered and narrowly saved in August 1996. Four other girls or teenagers were not so lucky, in particular Julie and Mélissa, kidnapped in 1995, abandoned and starved to death in the basement.
Workers began demolition work on the two-story red brick house on Tuesday.
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A real relief
It is the erasure of a symbol of one of the darkest pages in the history of Belgium, to the great relief of the inhabitants of the district met by Europe 1. Hildegarde calmly followed the first demolition operations of this cursed house.
Even if she only came to live here a few years after the Dutroux affair, the mother, a resident of this street on the edge of the railway line, remains very marked by the tragedy.
"When I walked past, it gave me chills, I had the impression of 'feeling' something", she assures the microphone of Europe 1. "These kids who died of hunger ... C It was really horrible, so not seeing that house again will relieve everyone in the neighborhood."
A memorial garden instead
A house that will in fact be deconstructed almost brick by brick.
Instead, a memory garden will be erected in homage to the little girls, a site designed in consultation with the parents.
For some, like Steve, it's a project that comes a bit late.
"It's a bit deplorable that it took so long to demolish this house, it should have been destroyed sooner," he persists.
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"Now, doing something that will make it possible to be remembered and not forget what happened, that's the most important thing", concedes the Carolorégien.
Only the cellar of the house and the hiding place where the young victims were sequestered will be preserved, to allow future forensic investigations if necessary, again at the request of the parents.