Four firms and a dozen individuals went on trial in France on Monday charged with involuntary manslaughter over the deaths of 39 people in a blaze in the Mont Blanc tunnel in 1999. The disaster was caused by a Belgian-registered Volvo truck full of flour and margarine catching fire. The trial, which is expected to last until April 29, will hear around 180 witnesses and experts. It will be the first major test of a 2000 French law making it harder to secure a conviction for involuntary manslaughter.
Among those on trial are the Belgian driver of the truck, Gilbert Degrave, Chamonix Mayor Michel Charlet, French and Italian tunnel regulators and several company officials.
If found guilty, they face a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros ($58,500).
The firms on trial are Swedish carmaker Volvo, Italian tunnel operator SITMB, French tunnel operator ATMB and its management arm. They face a possible fine of 45,000 euros, a ban on their activities or being placed under judicial observation.
Prosecutors allege a fault in the motor of the Volvo truck led to an oil leak that started the fire. Volvo denied it was responsible, saying the leak could have been accidental.
"We guarantee the reliability and the quality of all the trucks produced by our factory. We are certain that the fire was not caused by an error in design or manufacturing," Volvo Trucks chief spokesman Tommy Kohle said in a statement.
SITMB (Societa italiana per azioni per il traforo del Monte Bianco) announced last Friday it had set up a fund of 13.5 million euros to compensate relatives of victims of the fire. The move does not exempt it from standing trial.
The three other companies have declined to offer similar deals to the roughly 250 victims' relatives, who are travelling from 10 countries to attend the trial in Bonneville, in the French Alpine region of Haute-Savoie.
"These people are waiting for their confrontation with those they consider responsible for their suffering," said their lawyer Alain Jakubowicz.
"The question is where does the chain of responsibility begin or end. The Mont Blanc catastrophe has nothing to do with fate, the five years of enquiry have revealed what really happened," he said.
The court will focus on prosecutors' allegations that tunnel operators failed to provide enough investment, train security personnel and mock rescue exercises for several years preceding the fire.
There will be simultaneous interpretation of the trial proceedings into English, Italian and German. France is providing psychiatric assistance for the relatives and compensating them for their travel and accommodation costs.
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