France: Teenager dies after bike's collision with police vehicle

A teenager lost his life late on Wednesday (September 7), after a collision between his motorbike and police vehicle west of Paris, said the police sources.

The 16-year-old is reportedly accused of failing to comply with police officers, said a police source, further adding that he was being "followed at a distance" by a police car through Elancourt, a town around 30 kilometres (almost 20 miles) outside Paris.

He banged into "another police vehicle" at an intersection, the source added, as per news agency AFP reports.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The collision between the vehicles took place at around 6:40 pm (1640 GMT), said a second police source, according to AFP.

Prosecutors said that initially, the teenager was revived from respiratory and cardiac arrest by first responders and brought to the hospital, but later, he succumbed to the injuries that he sustained in the crash.

The prosecutors further added that they were investigating the allegations levelled against the deceased by the police and also the involuntary homicide at the wheel.

They also said that two police officers were held in custody pending a manslaughter probe and were being interrogated.

As per AFP reports, extra police force was deployed in Elancourt, a town of 25,000 people, to thwart any probable unrest.

Government spokesman Olivier Veran said the investigations would determine the "exact circumstances" of Wednesday's collision.

"Obviously I am calling for calm.... I am calling for restraint and careful consideration," he said on France Inter radio.

"Regardless of how dramatic a situation is, it needs answers that we do not yet have."

Wednesday's incident came almost a month after a 17-year-old boy was shot by a police officer in the Paris suburb of Nanterre for fleeing a traffic check which triggered massive riots in the country.

France witnessed a violent response from the police as hundreds of people were arrested and several police officers suffered wounds.

3 police officers charged over death of man during riots

In August, three police officers were charged over the death of a 27-year-old man in the southern French city of Marseille during nationwide riots.

Five officers were arrested over the incident out of which two were released quickly.

The 27-year-old who lost his life in the riots was identified as Bendriss, who was a married man and a father of one. His widow is now expecting a second child. As per reports, Bendriss died after feeling unwell while riding a scooter.

His postmortem showed traces on his chest, of what as per reports could be the impact of a shot from a blast ball, known in French as an LBD and commonly used by the country's police.

Prosecutors have said they consider it "probable" that the man's death was "caused by a violent impact to the thorax caused by the firing of a projectile of the blast ball type".

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.