Security chief jailed in Mont Blanc fire rulings

Prison for a security chief, suspended sentences and fines for others as a French court determines the responsibilities in the fire disaster that killed 39 people in the Mont Blanc tunnel six years ago. The court at Bonneville, near Chamonix in south-eastern France, ordered a 30-month prison term with 24 months suspended for French security chief Gerard Roncoli, the only one of the accused to be jailed. The mayor of Chamonix Michel Charlet received a suspended six-month prison term and a 1,500 euro fine.

And the Belgian driver of the truck that caught fire and set off the conflagration, Gilbert Degrave, was given a suspended four-month prison term that was immediately amnestied. The court, which earlier this year held three months of hearings, absolved the Swedish carmaker Volvo of responsibility. The French state prosecutor asked for the charges to be dropped, saying there was no proof of a fault causing the truck, loaded with flour and margarine, to burst into flames. Four companies and a dozen individuals were on trial for involuntary manslaughter over the fire that trapped the truck and around 30 other vehicles.

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