One dead and one seriously injured after a cell fire at the Bordeaux-Gradignan prison center

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 equip themselves before intervening, this is the recommended procedure. 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 vision?“Reports Hurbert Gratraud, FO prison union at the Bordeaux-Gradignan prison center.

The investigation must determine the causes of the fire, in particular if the fire is intentional, 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.

“What are we waiting for, that there are other deaths?”

For union official Hubert Gratraud, prison overcrowding is the cause. “I’ve been warning for weeks. I have been in the prison administration for almost 20 years and I have never seen so many people imprisoned. There was the covid crisis, we have a lot of people imprisoned for thefts, sometimes violent, it’s normal that justice applies but at some point, if we get into such situations, it’s because we is no longer able to ensure the safety of detainees. What are we waiting for, that there are other deaths?“regrets the elected FO judiciary. According to Force Ouvrière, building A of the Gradignan prison counted last week 608 prisoners for 223 cells, three times more than the number of places provided.

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