Nice's public prosecutor, Damien Martinelli, announced Friday that a new suspect has been placed under formal investigation over the July 2024 arson attack in the city's Moulins district that killed seven members of the same family, including three young children, according to ICI Nice.
The 25 year old, born in 2001 and living in Nice, was arrested in early July and is suspected of having acted as an intermediary in preparing the attack, particularly regarding the location of the fire, according to the prosecutor's statement. During questioning, the suspect acknowledged partial involvement, which he attributed to threats he said he had received. He has been formally charged with voluntary destruction by fire resulting in death, arson committed as part of an organised group, and criminal conspiracy, and was ordered into pre-trial detention after an appeal by prosecutors overturned an initial judicial supervision order.
Three men set fire to a stairwell in the early hours of July 18, 2024, in a block in the Moulins district, killing three children aged five, seven and ten, a 17 year old teenager, and two women aged 22 and 46, while a 45 year old man died after jumping from a window to escape the flames. All were members of a Comorian family the investigation has found had no connection to the drug trafficking territorial dispute prosecutors believe motivated the attack.
Two suspected masterminds remain at large abroad; one was previously traced to an airport in Guinea-Bissau in December 2024, though France has no extradition agreement with the country.
Philippe Soussi, the lawyer representing the victims' family, welcomed the development. "The victims' family, whom I have the honour of representing, takes note with satisfaction of the recent progress in the investigation," he said.