Fire damage to Limoges City Hall

Six days after a fire destroyed Limoges City Hall during violence on October 17, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and several ministers visited the capital of Limousin on Friday.

Reconstruction plans announced

Lecornu promised a reconstruction process following the "Notre-Dame" procedure, similar to the cathedral rebuilt in five years after the dramatic fire in 2019. He assured the press that local taxpayers would not cover any costs for the reconstruction of the town hall.

Funding and legal support

The city hall will be fully classified as a historical monument, making it eligible for certain funding, and will benefit from a dedicated article in the Housing Bill currently under examination, "to rebuild identically and accelerate the procedures," Lecornu detailed.

Mayor outlines cost-sharing

According to Guillaume Guérin, mayor of Limoges, the state should cover 80% of the repair costs, with the remainder coming from public and private patronage. A fundraising campaign opened by the Heritage Foundation has collected more than 450,000 euros.

Protest and fire details

Approximately 5,000 people marched last Saturday in Limoges, where radical elements attacked the city hall, breaking windows and forcing the door to enter inside and set fire. The roof collapsed, the belfry fell, and firefighters worked all week to secure the remains of the city hall.

Legal action against suspects

The Limoges prosecutor's office announced that two suspects, arrested this week, were brought before the judges handling the investigation into the city hall fire on Friday. It requested their provisional detention. "The facts are particularly serious," emphasized the Prime Minister. "By the degree of planning, by the intent to commit an act, and by the various charges that the justice has retained," he concluded, including the attempted murder of police officers who were in the city hall during the fire.