- A gruesome discovery was made by firefighters after extinguishing a fire in central Paris
A dismembered body has been discovered in a suitcase left under a bridge in central Paris in a mystery case that has rocked the French capital.
The gruesome discovery was made by firefighters dispatched to extinguish a fire that started in a pile of rubbish under the Austerlitz Bridge on Saturday evening.
After extinguishing the fire, emergency responders began searching the area in the early hours of Sunday morning to rule out other threats and came across the suspicious case.
Inside they found a charred, dismembered human body.
Prosecutors have launched a murder investigation, but they have yet to identify the burned and tortured remains.
A dismembered body was found under the Austerlitz Bridge in Paris at night on May 11, 2024, by firefighters who came to extinguish a garbage fire
The gruesome discovery was made by firefighters dispatched to extinguish a fire that had started in a pile of rubbish under the Austerlitz Bridge.
The suitcase containing his remains was found at the foot of the Austerlitz Bridge – an area frequented by several homeless people and where waste is regularly dumped
Hours after firefighters made their shocking discovery, a man walked into the Paris Defense Police Station in Hauts-de-Seine to turn himself in, sensationally declaring that he was behind the gruesome murder.
The self-confessed perpetrator, who has yet to be identified, claimed the dismembered body belonged to a disabled person he was caring for.
He said the couple had argued and he decided to end his charges, according to a report by France’s Europa 1 channel, but gave no other details to police.
Now forensic teams are trying to determine exactly how and where the victim was murdered, dismembered and stuffed into the case.
“The body was complete, but in several pieces,” a source close to the case said Le Parisien yesterday afternoon.
Preliminary reports suggested the victim was beaten to death “with his bare hands,” Le Parisien’s sources said.
It is said that he was paralyzed and could not have defended himself.
The suitcase containing his remains was found at the foot of the Austerlitz Bridge, an area frequented by several homeless people and where waste is regularly dumped.
It is unclear how the fire started among the rubbish, or when the suitcase was left there.
A homeless man who spoke to French reporters said he was not aware of anyone dumping the case.
“We are alone here,” he said. “We haven’t seen anything, I’ve been here since Saturday afternoon.”
The discovery comes just months before Paris is set to host the Olympic Games.