France - AZF trial

Total and AZF boss off the hook for factory explosion

Article published on the 2009-11-19 Latest update 2009-11-19 17:08 TU

The aftermath of the 2001 AZF factory explosion
(Photo: Eric Cabanis/AFP)

A French court in Toulouse ruled Thursday that the former director of a chemical plant owned by the oil giant Total is not responsible for one of the worst industrial accidents in France. The judge said Serge Biechlin was not guilty of involuntary homicide. A huge blast destroyed the AZote Fertilisant (AZF) factory he directed near Toulouse in 2001, killing 31 people and injuring thousands of others.

After six years of court proceedings, a judge cleared Biechlin and the owner of the factory, Grande Paroisse, of wrongdoing.

“Legally, one has to prove an error committed and the definite causal link with the damages,” said the president of the court Thomas Le Monnyer, giving Biechlin an official benefit of the doubt.

He did add, though, that there were “organisational problems” in the factory.

Biechlin faced prison time and a large fine for involuntary homicide and negligence the resulted in a blast at the AZF factory on 21 September 2001, two weeks after the 11 September terrorist attacks in New York

The factory was destroyed by an explosion after DCCNa, a chlorinated substance, was accidentally dropped on some 300 tonnes of ammonium nitrate being stored in a warehouse.

The 31 people killed were mostly factory workers, and over 2,000 people in the surrounding area were injured by flying shards of debris.

Total has already paid two billion euros in damages.

Earlier Thursday, the judge dismissed a summons against Total and its former CEO Theirry Desmarest brought by some victims.

Prosecutors have ten days to file an appeal against Biechlin and Grande Paroisse.