TotalFinaElf has set up a FRF 20-million emergency fund to assist the people most seriously affected by the Toulouse disaster. Priority beneficiaries include:

• The heirs of victims who were killed and who were not covered by employer insurance plans.

• Victims whose injuries resulted in severe handicaps.

• People left homeless by the explosion.

The fund will be administered by the French Red Cross, in conjunction with TotalFinaElf.

Thierry Desmarest, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TotalFinaElf, said that "Combined with victim information agencies and streamlined compensation procedures introduced by insurers, the fund will ensure that the victims who suffered and lost the most in the disaster will receive support even more quickly."

The new fund is in addition to the FRF 10 million that TotalFinaElf contributed to local authorities the day after the Toulouse disaster to provide emergency assistance for victims.

The explosion occurred on September 21 at the AZF plant operated by Grande Paroisse, a subsidiary of TotalFinaElf’s chemicals branch, Atofina.