**A court has acquitted a subsidiary of French energy giant Total over a 2001 explosion at a French chemical plant which killed 30 and injured thousands.**The Toulouse court dismissed charges of manslaughter against the Total subsidiary Grande Paroisse and the AZF plant director, Serge Biechlin.
It cited “reasonable doubt”, saying there was no proof the defendants were responsible for the explosion.
The blast tore apart the plant with the force of a magnitude 3.4 earthquake.
The explosion, which left a big crater and damaged thousands of homes within a several-mile radius, came just 10 days after the 9/11 attacks on the US, raising fears it was another terror-related attack.
It occurred at a warehouse containing some 300 tonnes of ammonium nitrate.
‘No certain link’
A 2006 investigation blamed the blast on negligence that allowed dangerous chemicals to mix, and the prosecution said there had been errors in the organisation and management of waste.
But after a nine-month trial that involved dozens of experts and hundreds of witnesses, Presiding Judge Thomas Le Monnyer ruled that there was no certain link between management errors and the explosion.
The defendants, who were also cleared of involuntary injury and destruction of property, had argued that the plant met all safety standards in 2001.
A group representing relatives of the blast’s victims expressed frustration at the verdict and said it would appeal.
Total has always denied any criminal responsibility for the blast, but has paid some 2bn euros (£1.8bn) in compensation to victims.