• This Thursday opens the trial of the main defendants in the arson of the bakery, route de Vienne, in Lyon, which took place on February 9, 2019.
  • That evening, the fire spread throughout the building, trapping a 31-year-old woman, eight months pregnant, and her 4-year-old daughter. They died of asphyxiation.
  • Investigations quickly led to arson. The two partners allegedly ordered the act to scam their insurance. They allegedly asked a third man to commit the acts. The trial will make it possible, among other things, to determine the links between these three people.

Almost four years to the day, the trial of the fire of the building route de Vienne, in the 8th arrondissement of Lyon, will open at the Assize Court of the Rhône. On February 9, 2019, around 20:30 p.m., a large explosion sounded in the Grand Trou district. A bakery on the ground floor had caught fire. The fire quickly spread throughout the building, in which a family lived on the first floor. A 31-year-old woman, 8 months pregnant, and her 4-year-old daughter died of asphyxiation, trapped in the dwelling they occupied. Only the father survived by jumping out of the window, without being able to help his loved ones. The next day, the first investigations led to the criminal trail and a voluntary act.



The trial, which opens on Thursday, is scheduled to last until February 24. The two bakers, partners and managers of the establishment, will be tried, suspected of having ordered this deadly fire in order to scam their insurance. They are charged with "destruction and arson resulting in death" and "attempted fraud carried out by an organized gang". According to Le Parisien, they dispute the facts. According to Guillaume Baulieux, the lawyer for the civil parties quoted in the newspaper, "these people were in a financial slump, their bakery did not sell anything. They created figures artificially to be compensated. »

The long-awaited father's testimony

These two suspects allegedly asked a third man to set fire to their business. The latter was arrested shortly after the incident, in Tunisia, while fleeing. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for these offences in November 2022. The trial will make it possible, among other things, to determine the links between these three people.

The testimony of the father of the family is also eagerly awaited. His lawyer, who represents his family, with the exception of his girlfriend's mother, recalled the circumstances of the fire where "everything went at a crazy speed" with the vision of "a ball of fire" that crosses the apartment. The man, now 42 years old, owes "his survival to a defenestration". The father is a "collateral victim of total injustice," insisted the lawyer to the Parisian.


Miscellaneous facts

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Miscellaneous facts

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  • Justice
  • Lyon
  • Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
  • Rhône-Alpes
  • Arson
  • Assize Court