What caused the boiler explosion at the Montebello Distillery in Petit Bourg yesterday morning (Friday 24 July 2026) at 8:33am? A criminal case has been initiated in the case”manslaughter and unintentional injuries at work” has begun. The Petit-Bourg territorial team has been contacted to carry out the investigation, with support from the Labor Inspectorate and the Department of Environment, Planning and Housing (DEAL), as most elements of the investigation will be technical.
This time of searching for reasons is added to the time of mourning. Because the force of the explosion was destructive. In this tragedy, a man died at his workplace. Four more people were seriously injured; they suffer from burns and/or fractures.
Fortunately, there were no visitors to the site at the time of the accident, as happens every day, especially during the school holidays.
ALSO READ: Explosion at the Montebello distillery in Petit-Bourg: a tragedy that left one dead and four seriously injured – 07/24/2026.
To try to find out more about the security conditions imposed on the managers of such industrial infrastructures, as well as the control exercised by government agencies, the director of DEAL appeared as a guest on television news.”Guadeloupe Evening“, last night. Jean-Yves Saussol answered Christelle Théophile’s questions.
“This is the worst industrial accident in Guadeloupe since at least 1992; that is, since we have a chronicle of these types of accidents.”
Jean-Yves Saussol, director of DEAL Guadeloupe
DEAL is responsible for the regulation and control of industrial installations within the framework of environmental protection. It turns out that the last inspection of the Montebello distillery was a year ago; they were operated on in July 2025.
Can we talk about shared responsibility? “It’s too early to draw conclusions“, answers Jean-Yves Saussol.
“We must keep in mind that here we are at the intersection of several regulations. The first is the regulation of the Labor Code; enterprises are obliged to ensure the safety of their workers. This is the first area that worries our colleagues from the Labor Inspectorate. Next comes a whole series of texts regulated by the Environmental Code, the observance of which is the responsibility of my administration. Firstly, there are somewhat general texts on objects related to environmental protection, which relate to industrial risks, chronic risks, etc. And then these are very specific regulations, here, for example, we will talk about the regulations regarding pressure equipment.”
Jean-Yves Saussol, director of DEAL Guadeloupe
Therefore, the boiler is subject to special regulations, as are other equipment distributed throughout the facilities on site.
“There are 147 environmental sites in Guadeloupe, nine of which are considered high priority and are monitored every year. There are about fifteen more at stake, which we inspect every two to three years. And the rest we inspect at least every six years. These are routine periodic inspections. And then, obviously, when we have accidents, when we have reports, we can do what we call reactive inspections to figure it out. And that’s what what we’re going to do, obviously, with this setup.”
Jean-Yves Saussol, director of DEAL Guadeloupe
The Montebello factory meets modern standards of respect for the environment, says director DEAL Guadeloupe.
“This installation has really been monitored. There have been several inspections since its approval in 2004. These have largely focused on the problem of chronic risks and in particular the problems of air pollution, water pollution from waste water, which were very, very high levels of pollutants. There have been several official notifications to address these issues. On the other hand, it is true that we were not aware of a specific risk associated with the risk of boiler explosion. It must be said that this is a pressurized equipment, like boilers, we do not carry If we have carried out a level one inspection, we are carrying out a level two inspection and therefore we have not had a specific risk report.”
Jean-Yves Saussol, director of DEAL Guadeloupe
The boiler, however, is old. Doesn’t this deserve special attention?
“Old equipment does not necessarily mean obsolete or poor quality equipment. That is why I am extremely careful. The full cause tree needs to be seen. That is why we will immediately initiate a reactive review, but also we will rely on the office of “industrial accident investigation” at the national level. Therefore, our colleagues, whom we are asking since Monday, as we have done for other accidents of the same type, to help us determine this cause tree. And, depending on the cause tree (Are there human causes? Are there human causes? Were there mistakes made? Is the equipment itself faulty? If so, why was it not identified earlier, etc.) then we will continue to take broader measures.
Jean-Yves Saussol, director of DEAL Guadeloupe
There are 19 distilleries in Guadeloupe, including three main ones: Damoiseau, Bologne and Bonne-Mer. These last threehave already been subject to scrutiny because they are part of these high-stakes facilities“, explains Jean-Yves Saussol. – Not a single boiler was identified as being at risk.
“Then we will see what concerns the rest. If there really was a ‘pressure equipment’ topic at Montebello, then we will rely on the national center of competence to start a much broader activity on these topics.”
Jean-Yves Saussol, director of DEAL Guadeloupe
TO (RE)SEE: Full interview with Jean-Yves Sosol, director of DEAL Guadeloupe: