Three co-owners sentenced over 2018 Marseille building collapse

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00:01Nearly seven years after the tragedy and a lengthy legal process,

00:06a court in Marseille has handed out its verdict on a building collapse in 2018.

00:11Of the 16 defendants, 10 have been convicted, including Xavier Caixart, seen here on arrival.

00:18One of the owners, he was found guilty of manslaughter and providing unfit housing.

00:23He was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which were suspended.

00:27Two other owners were also sentenced to prison terms.

00:30After the judgment, some expressed their disappointment.

00:33It's a fairly lenient judgment for some parties. We expected more.

00:38We're all still in shock because eight people died. We can't let that go.

00:45On November 5th, 2018, in the centre of Marseille, three buildings on Rue d'Aubagne collapsed.

00:51Eight people lost their lives.

00:54The incident brought to light the dilapidated state of the buildings.

00:57Here are some images taken before the accident.

01:01For six weeks last year, the trial attempted to establish who exactly was responsible.

01:06Julien Ruas, a former deputy mayor of Marseille, was also found guilty and given a two-year suspended prison sentence, notably for manslaughter.

01:14He had not used all of the 6.5 million euros voted by the city council for the urban renewal of the city.

01:23Among the defendants, three property owners were acquitted. The court recognized their willingness to carry out work beforehand.

01:29It's a very good decision, and the court was very thorough in explaining its decision, from both a legal and factual point of view.

01:40The defendants can still appeal against the verdict.

01:45ended

02:00Madred

02:01but

02:02We were

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