No blame for AZF deadly explosion

THE VICTIMS of a massive factory explosion that killed 31 people and injured thousands have spoken of their anger after a court cleared oil giant Total and its management of any responsibility.

The explosion at the Total-owned AZF chemical fertiliser plant in Toulouse, France’s deadliest industrial accident since the Second World War, registered 3.4 on the Richter scale and left many people disabled and with hearing problems.

Prosecutors had been pushing for a three-year suspended prison sentence and a €45,000 fine for former factory director Serge Biechlin and a €225,000 fine for building owners Grande Paroisse - a subsidiary of Total.

The court heard from a number of witnesses that the explosion was caused when a chlorine-based product and ammonium nitrate were stored together and sparked an explosive reaction.

Other witnesses claimed poor management and negligence on the part of directors at the company.
However judges ruled that it was impossible to say with any certainty that the incorrect storage of the chemicals had caused the explosion. The court also acquitted parent company Total and its former chief executive Thierry Desmarest of any responsibility.

Gérard Ratier, who lost his son in the accident, told 20 Minutes that the ruling "lacked courage".

One of the lawyers for the victims' group told the paper: "When a young person is suspected of stealing a scooter, they're sentenced without any tangible proof, but for a catastrophe of this size, the accused are let off."

Toulouse mayor Pierre Cohen told Europe 1 that the ruling seemed to suggest the factory bosses were "morally guilty but legally innocent".

Green party national secretary Cécile Duflot said in a statement: "This industrial incident could have been predicted and prevented. Lessons from the AZF tragedy in terms of urban planning and risk prevention have not been taken."

The blast in September 2001 was heard for 50 miles and two-thirds of the windows in Toulouse were shattered. Around 10% of the city’s population were temporarily evacuated.

The explosion produced a cloud of gas and chemicals over Toulouse where many initially believed it was a terrorist attack, just 10 days after the events of September 11 in New York.

The factory was destroyed in the blast that left a crater 200 metres wide by 60m deep. Steel girders were found 3km away.

Total has already paid out several billion in compensation, without any admission of responsibility.

BLAST VIDEOS
Police helicopter footage of the crater caused by the explosion

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Photo: A school destroyed by the factory blast, credit Anton Merlina-Bonnafous