Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

Two men on their way to a wedding on behalf of a fireworks supplier parked their car loaded with fireworks on the lot of a supermarket to phone ahead and ask for directions. Around 8:30 pm, the vehicle exploded. The human toll was heavy: 10 dead (including the 2 men leaving the vehicle) and 29 injured, some of whom very seriously (deafness, blindness); 34 cars, the supermarket and a phone booth were all damaged. All of the city’s fire-fighting crew, backed up by rescuers with a humanitarian organisation and civilian safety personnel, arrived onsite accompanied by 20 ambulances.

The hypothesis of a Basque separatist attack was favoured at first, as an anonymous call shortly before the accident warned of the presence of car bombs in the region. The police investigation would demonstrate that the cause was accidental. According to a reconstitution of the event, the car was carrying 60 kg of fireworks for an active mass equal to 25 kg of explosives. The car belonged to the driver’s father, who was an independent fireworks supplier.

The investigators identified 4 possible causes of explosion (or a combination thereof):

  • influence of temperature in the boot of the car, where the fireworks had spent several hours (at the time of the accident, the outdoor temperature was 29°C);
  • possibility of an electrical short-circuit inside the vehicle;
  • possibility of sparks, friction or an impact caused by the tools present in the boot;
  • presence of traces of a pyrotechnic compound or other substances incompatible with the fireworks in the boot, with such a compound originating from previous loads transported in the same vehicle.

The ruling pronounced on 7th July, 1994 acquitted the 2 managers of a fireworks plant on the grounds of no proof that they were responsible for manufacturing and selling the fireworks involved in the explosion. A police officer assigned to inspect pyrotechnic plants at the time of the accident was also discharged.