Family's 10-year-wait for answers over tragic death of former Edge Hill University worker

Linda had been staying in her caravan with her husband Carlo at the Pylône campsite
-Credit:Archive/Sipa/Rex Shutterstock


A retired university employee died after a violent storm engulfed the campsite where she was staying in France. Linda Martinez, a 62-year-old retired administrator at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, died after flash floods hit the French Riviera in October 2015.

Linda had been staying in her caravan with her husband Carlo at the Pylône campsite, near Antibes, when the river Brague burst its banks and submerged the site.

Linda, who had only recently retired, was found dead in her caravan after the flood. Her husband was taken to hospital having suffered a heart attack.

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Linda, from Haskayne near Ormskirk, was one of 19 people feared dead after violent storms and severe flooding swept the Riviera. Three people drowned in a retirement home after it was flooded, Lancs Live reports.

Almost 10 years on, due to delays with the French investigation, an inquest has now taken place at Preston Coroner's Court to determine the circumstances of Linda's death.

The inquest heard that staff at the campsite had been warned about heavy rainfall on the morning of October 3 in 2015 but failed to begin to evacuate until around 8.30pm that night. The coroner ruled this had contributed to Linda's death.

Workers use a bulldozer to clean the streets of southern France after flooding around the French Riviera (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
Workers use a bulldozer to clean the streets of southern France after flooding around the French Riviera (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

Following the inquest, held yesterday (Tuesday January 21), the coroner concluded: "Linda Martinez was pronounced dead on October 7, 2015, at 189 Avenue du Pylone, Antibes, France. She died by drowning.

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"Mrs Martinez was staying at a campsite when, on the October 3, 2015, heavy rain caused a flash flood to travel through the site. Campsite staff had received warnings about expected rainfall from late morning on the 3rd October 2015 but did not commence an evacuation of the site until 8.30pm.

"A French investigation found failings in addressing the risks presented by the weather by the campsite staff and delay in addressing these risks. This contributed to Mrs Martinez's death by drowning."

After Linda's death Vice-Chancellor of Edge Hill, Dr John Cater said: “Staff and students at Edge Hill University are saddened by the tragic news about Linda Martinez.

"A key member of the administrative team in the Faculty of Education for fifteen years until her retirement earlier this year, Linda was well-known and much-loved by many colleagues and students and was only very recently in the Faculty visiting friends."