Who are the four suspects indicted and placed in pre-trial detention?

A 17-year-old minor was arrested on Tuesday at the French-Spanish border. He is suspected of being involved in the fire that caused the death of seven people in mid-July.

The investigation is progressing in the case of the deadly arson attack in Nice. A fourth suspect, aged 17, was also indicted and placed in pre-trial detention on Thursday 2 August, the public prosecutor announced. He had been brought before the court after being arrested on Tuesday at the Perthus toll barrier on the French-Spanish border, while he was travelling on a bus heading to France.

The disaster that occurred on July 18 caused the death of seven people from the same family in a building in a deprived neighborhood affected by drug trafficking. According to the Nice prosecutor’s office, however, the victims had no connection “directly or indirectly” with this war for the control of neighboring points of sale.

The four individuals arrested were charged with “deliberate destruction by fire in an organized gang resulting in death” and face life imprisonment. What is their profile? While a fifth suspect – an 18-year-old man from Val-d’Oise – is still being sought, franceinfo summarizes what we know about the alleged arsonists.

A minor who fled to Spain

The 17-year-old suspect arrested on Tuesday at the Perthus toll barrier at 1:30 a.m. is from from Seine-Saint-Denis. According to Damien Martinelli, public prosecutor of Nice, this minor is “known to the police, particularly for drug trafficking” but he “has never been convicted”According to a statement from the magistrate, the young man admitted “immediately his involvement, specifying that he had been asked for payment to participate in the events consisting of starting a fire targeting a specific target”.

“After breaking the front door of the building [situé au 38 rue de la Santoline] with a stone”the suspect has “entered the building with two other suspects”however, denying having started the fire himself, according to the prosecutor’s account. The suspect explained that after “a few days on the run in Spain”he had “made the decision to return to France and surrender”said Damien Martinelli.

LInitial investigations revealed three fires on the first, second and third floors, while CCTV footage shows three men arriving in a car before breaking down the front door and entering the building, then coming out just before the fire broke out.

23-year-old man already sentenced

Ten days earlier, another suspect had been arrested on July 22, around 7 p.m., while he was at the Gare du Nord in Paris. He is a 23-year-old man, “no occupation”, “resident in the Alpes-Maritimes”, “known to the police” And “already condemned”according to the Nice prosecutor, who did not specify for which offences. Placed in police custody, the individual explained that he was travelling from Lille to Cannes to go to the police “after a few days of fleeing”, “convinced by his relatives”. He also recognized “immediately his involvement”specifying that he also had “was asked for payment to drive three people” which he claims not to know in the Moulins district.

According to his version of events, reported by the prosecution, he was travelling in a vehicle with a friend when they agreed to transport these three people. “without knowing precisely” what they “were going to do” but “while being aware, in light of the discussions they had had, that the three passengers transported were likely to participate in a violent act”The use of fire was mentioned, the prosecution said. Analysis of surveillance camera footage made it possible to track a black Renault Clio, a rental car, which drove around the area several times on the night of the tragedy.

Two other menwhose driver

The driver of the car, aged 25, reported to the police the day after the tragedy. He claimed to have been forced to drive the vehicle but the investigation suggests “a much stronger involvement”had the prosecutor noted. A few days later, a second suspect, aged 21-year-old, was arrested in Noisy-le-Grand, in Seine-Saint-Denis. A resident of Val-d’Oise, he was wearing bandages on his legs due to recent burns. Taken to Nice, he has so far remained silent. The two men are known to the police for “minor facts”according to the prosecution.

Beyond these questions, “the investigations will also have to target, identify and seek out possible order givers”insisted the magistrate during a press briefing on July 22. The investigation, led by dozens of police officers in the department and beyond, continues to identify them.