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After this tragedy which cost the lives of 10 people with disabilities, the Wintzenheim town hall quickly clarified that the gîte had not been declared by its owner.
The manager of the gîte in Wintzenheim (Haut-Rhin) affected in August by a fire, in which ten adults with mild mental disabilities and an attendant died, was indicted on Thursday October 19 for involuntary manslaughter, a- we learned on Friday October 20 from the Paris prosecutor’s office.
She was placed under judicial control, with the obligation to provide a deposit of 15,000 euros and the ban on operating or managing any category of tourist residence regardless of its accommodation capacity, in her name or in the name of of a company, the same source said, confirming information from France Bleu.
Undeclared lodging
The manager was indicted for “manslaughter by manifestly deliberate violation of an obligation of safety or prudence“. He is accused of having exploited “an establishment open to the public without authorization» and not having declared “the destination of the building nor the capacity to accommodate the public when filing building permits or work declarations with the town hall“.
The two investigating judges in charge of investigations at the Paris collective accident center also suspect her of having evaded “in a deliberate manner to the regulations relating to this type of establishment, particularly by not respecting the standards relating to fire safety applicable in this type of establishment“.
His company was also indicted for “involuntary homicide by a legal entity through a clearly deliberate violation of an obligation of safety or prudence“. After this tragedy, the Wintzenheim town hall quickly clarified that the gîte had not been declared by its owner.
Mission carried out incompletely
The General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (Igas) also carried out an administrative investigation into the role of the organizers of the stay and the administrations which follow them. The two organizers, the Idoine association and the Oxygène company, were “responsible for the safety of holidaymakers in accommodation places» selected but they «did not consider themselves competent and directly responsible for verifying the status of the lodges with regard to fire safety», According to a summary of the Igas report published at the end of September.
The company Oxygène was refused the renewal of its approval because of the shortcomings pointed out by Igas. The State services responsible for controlling these stays are also accused of having carried out this mission in an incomplete manner.