A cigarette butt at the origin of the gigantic fire in the Var? The prosecutor of the Republic of Draguignan has in any case acknowledged that cigarette butts were identified by investigators on the motorway area where the fire seems to have started, but it is “very early” to say that they are actually at the origin of the incident.
“Despite the very precise findings of the criminal investigation technicians, to say with certainty that these cigarette butts are at the origin of the fire is very much anticipated, it is a mistake”, declared Patrice Camberou. “These butts are a possible cause, but not necessarily the cause,” added the magistrate, who considers it necessary to resort to additional expertise.
Call for witnesses
Opened initially to search for the causes of the fire, the flagrant investigation has been extended to the qualification of manslaughter since the discovery of two bodies in a house in Grimaud, near Saint-Tropez. Entirely charred, the two victims could not yet be formally identified. “It is likely, given the scale of this fire, that at the end of the flagrance, the prosecution opens a judicial investigation,” said Patrice Camberou.
Thursday, the Var gendarmerie issued an appeal, as part of the ongoing judicial investigation, to collect “the testimony of people with information to communicate on the circumstances of the start of the fire.” “It’s about being sure that we did not miss someone who would have seen something,” said Patrice Camberou.