It was 6:30 p.m. when a cell on the fourth floor of the penitentiary center caught fire on Wednesday June 1. Prison staff immediately put on the recommended protective gear and intervene. Officers manage to get an inmate out but he is already badly burned, he will then be evacuated to the hospital, in a state of absolute emergency. The guards immediately return to the cell to pick up the other inmate. He is already deceased, on his bed. “My colleagues took him out anyway, but could only see him dead. Can you imagine this dramatic sight?” reports Hurbert Grautraud, FO prison union at the Bordeaux-Gradignan prison center.
The investigation must determine the causes of the fire, in particular if it could be an intentional fire, and if so for what reasons. Three inmates occupied this normally individual cell until Wednesday afternoon when one of them was moved to another cell, a few hours before the fire. We don’t know if there is a link.
More information to come.