Almost two months after the explosion and the fire which killed eight people in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque (Pyrénées-Orientales), the investigation opened for “arson causing death” takes this Thursday a new twist and dimension. According to our information, the gendarmes of the research section of Montpellier have indeed just proceeded this Thursday morning to a wave of arrests. Three people are targeted by this custody measure. The owner of one of the businesses affected by the disaster would be concerned.
In recent weeks, magistrates and investigators were still awaiting the results of analyzes and expertise carried out by the criminal research institute of the national gendarmerie likely to support an accidental lead linked, for example, to a gas leak or to support, on the contrary, the hypothesis of a criminal origin which now seems to be essential.
VIDEO. Deadly explosion in the Pyrénées-Orientales: an 8th victim extracted from the rubble
On the night of February 13 to 14, around 1:30 a.m., a shock wave was felt within a radius of several hectometres around rue Arago, a shopping street located in the center of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque , a town of ten thousand inhabitants north of Perpignan. Then a violent fire had very quickly ravaged three old buildings, leaving its residents almost no chance to survive. A young man, hit by the flames, had managed to get out of the window before being taken care of by the emergency services. But eight people, including a young couple and their two young children, had lost their lives.
Very quickly, all eyes turned to one of the shops on rue Arago affected by the fire and the rumor of revenge against a background of drug trafficking or even an insurance scam had flourished without however, be confirmed by objective evidence. After several days of research, the presence of several gas cylinders had been detected in the middle of the rubble without it being possible to determine whether they were the cause of the disaster.