June 15, 2022, 2 p.m. Farid returns to his dead-end apartment in Les Orioles. With his son, they plan to spend “the afternoon at home to finish the homework”. An event will unfortunately compromise his plans.
A few minutes after their entry, the little boy goes straight to his room. Farid goes to the kitchen, located in the main room of this 60 square meter high villa. And there, in a fraction of a second, everything collapses. Literally.
“I saw nothing coming. No warning signs. A pile of dust and bricks surrounded me in no time. I was worried about my son, who I didn’t have in my field of vision. I I could hear him screaming from his bedroom, and I didn’t know if the ceiling had collapsed there too”. Fortunately, the bedroom ceiling remained intact.
But panic seizes the father and his son. “Luckily, I was propelled towards the window which was half-open. I started screaming for help”recalls Farid, with tears in his eyes.
“The owner of the villa whose floor I occupy lives on the ground floor. She was on the scene, but it was neighbors who heard my cries. They acted directly and contacted the fire brigade. Without them, I might already be out of this world…”
The memory of that day remains painful to evoke. The emotion is still palpable 15 days before the tragedy.
10 days of ITT
If his child has “only” partial and psychological injuries, Farid’s condition is a little more worrying.
He is taken to the hospital while his “son left with his mother with whom we separated”, he explains. After a series of exams all day, the results come in: the Toulonnais gets 10 days of ITT and suffers from neck pain, down to the lower back. “Despite these after-effects, I decided to go out in the evening to start the process”.
The same evening he sleeps at the hotel. Where it is still housed until”a proposal for rehousing from its lessor”.
The day after the disaster, a bailiff comes to verify the facts. His report relates “that a false ceiling was installed about five to ten centimeters from the original ceiling”, and “the whole (original ceiling, false ceiling and insulation) has collapsed on all the furniture in the main room (…) The room is currently inaccessible.”
“Identify those responsible”
A scene of chaos therefore, which still haunts Farid. “I lost everything: furniture, personal and administrative effects. I want to know the history and work carried out in this accommodation to find out if there were any anomalies in the renovation. My objective is to find out if the place was standards when I arrived, in July 2020. They put my life and especially that of my son in danger.”
A complaint was filed for endangering the lives of others and not assisting a person in danger (read opposite).
After the shock, now, place for reconstruction. A reconstruction that cannot pass “Only by calling into question those responsible for this tragedy. I want the proceedings to go to the end and that we shed light on this affair. I am determined to find the culprits. And I will not give up. For my son who witnessed this terrible tragedy and who is still traumatized by it. I owe him this fight”.
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“I’m trying to rebuild myself after this tragedy”
“The health crisis has had serious consequences on my professional and personal life. I was trying to get up before the tragedy. But this reconstruction has been stopped. Today I have nothing…“The psychological sequelae of Farid are”perhaps much larger than the physical ones“, sighs the Toulonnais.
Evolving in the strategic management of work for consulting groups, these last two years have had “a big impact” on Farid’s morale. And on his job.
“Over time, my psychological situation deteriorated. I couldn’t stand the difficult periods of confinement and the working conditions, until I got to burnout.”
On sick leave, Farid ruminates. Added to this are more personal issues. He separates from his wife, “and there it was a cataclysm in my life. I struggled to get out of it. This accommodation, found in 2020, was one of the positive points at this time in my life. I never thought everything would change in such a short time.“.
On the professional level, Farid is also trying to climb the slope. “With the help of Pôle emploi, I managed to structure a business project on my own, still in my chosen field. I even had potential customers. But because of the collapse, I lost everything: my contacts, my computer and even potential contracts since everything is on stand-by for the moment. The idea of going to the scene of the accident terrifies me. I try to get up in my corner after this drama.“
In these conditions, “the moral damage is obvious, adds his lawyer. My client’s plans have been disrupted and the trauma is still present. Civil suits are legitimate“.
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