Fire at the François-Rabelais college in Metz: an open investigation

An investigation was opened following the fire Friday evening in the courtyard of a college in Metz and at least two vehicles parked underneath, the public prosecutor, David Touvet, told AFP on Saturday. The investigation was opened blatantly for destruction by means dangerous to people. The prosecutor indicated that he could not “confirm nor deny a link” with the incidents on the sidelines of “high school demonstrations” in recent days.

“As it stands, we have reason to believe that there may be several people who acted: the preferred hypothesis, which must be confirmed, is that it is not an accidental act, that there is the intervention of a third party,” indicated the prosecutor. No potential suspects have been identified at this stage.

“Witnesses indicated that they saw several people (...) fleeing around the time of the incident,” Friday around 10:30 p.m., he said. The investigation has not yet made it possible to establish how the fire started and spread. According to a police source, two vehicles burned before the flames spread to the courtyard of the François-Rabelais college.

The main building of the establishment does not appear to have been affected by the fire, an AFP photographer noted on Saturday morning. “The entire college was not affected,” confirmed on BFMTV the diverse-right mayor of Metz, François Grosdidier, although “the only toilet block of the establishment” was burned, suggesting a closure for “a good while”.