Experts claim a leaking sewer line caused a 2019 Paris gas explosion, but the city disputes their findings.
Experts present sewer theory
Experts Jacques Donati and Jean-Luc Géronimi, certified by the Court of Cassation, presented their findings to the Paris correctional court. They argued that a leaking sewer line caused soil to loosen, leading to a gas pipeline rupture that triggered the 2019 explosion. Their report included 16 site visits and 198 slides, detailing how 300 to 500 cubic meters of wastewater infiltrated the ground.Explosion timeline and impact
According to the experts, the gas pipeline broke two hours before the explosion on January 12, 2019, at 8:59 AM. The blast killed four people, including two firefighters, and injured 200 others. The rupture was attributed to the weakened ground, which caused the pipe to flex and break.City of Paris criticized
The experts criticized the City of Paris for failing to investigate the subsidence of the sidewalk despite repeated requests to replace the pavement in front of the building. They claimed that without the ground subsidence, no pipeline rupture would have occurred. However, the defense raised doubts, citing a separate report that suggested corrosion of the pipeline played a role.Corrosion and repair questions
Jean-Luc Géronimi dismissed the idea of extreme corrosion but admitted uncertainty about whether a pipe without corrosion could have withstood the ground movement. The experts also noted a 30 cm hole found during a previous repair, which they said was missing from official reports. The City of Paris disputed this, saying no evidence of subsidence remained after the 2016 repairs.Legal challenges and complexity
The experts insisted that the repairs were ineffective and that the subsidence should have been investigated. They argued that addressing the subsidence would have prevented the explosion. However, the defense challenged this reasoning, suggesting the experts used flawed logic. Further scrutiny arose when the experts initially claimed the case was simple but later admitted it was complicated. Counter-experts are expected to appear in court starting Wednesday.
