Two 18-year-olds remanded in custody following Fontainebleau forest fires
An auxiliary firefighter and a university student, both 18 years old, have been charged and remanded in custody, accused of deliberately starting fires that consumed approximately 2,000 hectares of the forest.
Two 18-year-olds remanded in custody following Fontainebleau forest fires
The courts have charged and remanded in custody two young men aged 18, held responsible for the fires that have devastated the Fontainebleau forest (Seine-et-Marne) since the previous Sunday. According to the public prosecutor's office cited by franceinfo, the two defendants did not know each other.
One of them works as a volunteer firefighter. Brought before an investigating judge on Wednesday evening, he was prosecuted for "destruction by fire". During police custody interrogation, he initially admitted to igniting twigs using a lighter and petrol. The following day, he retracted this confession, as specified by the magistrate handling the case. He was remanded in custody on the evening of Wednesday 15 July.
The second alleged perpetrator, a student of the same age, appeared before the magistrate on Wednesday evening. The public prosecutor also notified him of charges for "destruction by fire" and requested his placement in provisional detention, which was carried out on Thursday 16 July, the same source reports.
Both admitted during their detention at the police station to having deliberately participated in the acts of arson, the public prosecutor's office announced.
Since the beginning of the week, the fire has destroyed nearly 2,000 hectares of this woodland situated approximately 60 kilometres south-east of the capital. This territory, of great ecological fragility, benefits from the "biosphere reserve" label awarded by UNESCO.
Source: Google News LU FR