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A farmer has been killed in an accident linked to farmers’ protests in France. Her husband and her 14-year-old daughter were seriously injured, the public prosecutor’s office in Foix, southern France, said on Tuesday. In France, farmers have been protesting for days against the government’s agricultural policy.
A car had crashed into a straw bale barricade on a closed highway. According to initial findings, the farmer’s death was an accident, which was partly due to poor lighting conditions. The street was not lit and the straw bale blockade was covered with black tarpaulins, according to the Public Prosecution Service. Several protest participants gathered behind the barricade, including the affected family. The three occupants of the car, all from Armenia, have been taken into custody by the police. The Public Prosecution Service is investigating manslaughter.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal expressed his condolences to the relatives. “The nation is shocked and in solidarity,” he wrote on the online service X. Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau was expected at the scene of the accident that evening.
“Accident Justifies Fight”
“This drama justifies our struggle all the more,” vice-chairman of the farmers’ association Luc Smessaert told the BFM broadcaster. French farmers’ protest is against what they see as excessive bureaucratic demands and inadequate pay.
After a meeting between the farmers’ association and Prime Minister Attal ended inconclusively on Monday, protesting farmers blocked several highways in different parts of the country with tractors on Tuesday. About 250 tractors were involved in a blockade around Albi in southern France. In Agen, demonstrators dumped manure, car tires and cattle bones in front of the prefecture.
President Emmanuel Macron said on the online service X on Tuesday: “To our farmers: I have asked the government to take action to provide concrete solutions to your problems.” (en/AFP)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
