“Ça aurait pu être un incident dramatique,” said Marina Thévenon.
An intruder group forced their way into Les Tilleuls, a nursing home in La Grand-Croix, during the night, ransacking facilities and setting fires that firefighters quickly extinguished, police and prosecutors said on Wednesday, November 11.
No injuries or smoke inhalation issues occurred among the roughly 100 residents, who were asleep and unaware of the intrusion, according to the facility’s management. Staff spotted two people on the ground floor around 2 a.m. as they damaged technical and logistical spaces, including the kitchen, Thévenon, communications director for the AÉSIO Santé mutualist group managing the home, told AFP.
Before breaking the front entrance, the hooded young assailants threw projectiles at windows, ignited exterior trash bins, and pushed two burning bins inside, Yves Cellier, interdepartmental director of the national police in the Loire, told AFP. He said that the area experiences sporadic urban violence.
“C’est de l’inconscience, il y aurait pu avoir des morts si le feu s’était propagé aux étages supérieurs,” Cellier said.
Caregivers faced threats, and the facility’s laundry room sustained heavy soot damage in one wing. Facility director Lina Khelifi described the situation to RTL.
“Il y a eu des fumées. Alors oui, le feu n’a pas pris, mais les dépôts de la fumée ont été jusque dans une unité où se trouvent des résidents. Ça aurait pu être un incident dramatique. On été estomaqués par ce qui s’est passé,” Khelifi told RTL.
Attackers also damaged the dining hall and equipment. André, whose wife lives on the second floor, expressed deep dismay over the incident.
“Pourquoi s’en prendre à l’Ehpad ? Mon épouse était au 2e étage. Elle a eu de la chance. C’est un scandale, je suis outré,” André said.
The assailants fled and face an active manhunt alongside accomplices waiting in an external vehicle. Anne Gaches, the prosecutor in Saint-Étienne, announced that police agencies opened an investigation into destruction and degradation by fire.
Cellier added that the bin fires damaged three external vehicles, while vandals threw furniture and refrigerated food onto the floor.
“Nous nous employons à réparer les dégâts matériels dus au saccage et aux fumées qui n’ont pas affecté les résidents, ainsi qu’à prendre en charge nos employées marquées par cette violence gratuite,” Thévenon said.
Luc François, mayor of the municipality of nearly 5,000 residents located about 15 kilometers east of Saint-Étienne, condemned the acts and offered support to the nursing home staff and residents.
