He was going to the Voix du Nord headquarters to start his workday. Alexis Christiaen, known as “Pib”, a photographer from the regional daily, attended the collapse of two buildings on rue Pierre-Mauroy, in LilleSaturday, November 12, 2022. On his newspaper’s website, he testifies in video of the “shock” he felt at the time of this disaster, while a person is still missing. A balance sheet that could have been much heavier if a student hadn’t sounded the alarm in the middle of the night.
“I first see a stone or two fall in front of mesays Pib. A stone rolls in front of the car. I stop, I look and I see that it comes from a building with scaffolding. And the scaffolding totters. I immediately backtrack. I heard an unbelievable noise. Everything collapsed in an impossible crash and dust. I had seen it all live. »
The photographer is shocked. “My legs were shakinghe continues. I approached, at first we couldn’t see anything, I thought it was just the facade that had fallen. And I started seeing people coming. Store and post office employees, dazed. Residents at their windows screaming. And when the smoke cleared, I saw that the whole building was on the ground, it was total chaos, there was nothing left. I took my camera, I started taking pictures. My only idea was to go there. »
This Saturday evening, the firefighters are still searching the rubble, looking for a missing person, doctor. “We are almost certain that this person is in the rubblesaid the firefighters. His phone isn’t answering, his car is in the parking lot, and he hasn’t taken his penalty. »