An investigation for assassination and attempted assassination was opened on Sunday, August 27, after a car hit several people in the Vosges. “A vehicle hit two groups of pedestrians in succession. One of the people struck died, another is seriously injured with a vital prognosis, “said the public prosecutor of Epinal, Frédéric Nahon. They “were mowed down at 200 meter intervals,” said the departmental operational center for fire and rescue (Codis) in the Vosges in the morning.
The tragedy occurred “around 5:30 am, in Charmes”, a town located about thirty kilometers north of Epinal, Mr. Nahon said in a statement late afternoon. He will hold a press conference on Monday at 5 p.m.
“The three occupants of the car”, who had fled, “were arrested in the morning and taken into custody”, according to the magistrate. He told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that an investigation into assassination and attempted assassination had been opened, confirming information from the daily Vosges-Matin, which suggests the possibility of a voluntary act rather than ‘an accident.
The car, a rental utility, had been abandoned near a supermarket, according to the newspaper, which also writes that the young man who died was going to celebrate his 18th birthday in a few days and was from Sorcy-Saint-Martin, commune of a thousand inhabitants in the Meuse. On Facebook, the town hall says that the young man had decided “with his friends to go to a nightclub in Charmes”. In the disco, he and his friends “get confused with other young people” and “when leaving, returning to their vehicle, they are expected by these same young people. A vehicle deliberately hits them, killing “the young Meusien, says the town hall.
Thirty-seven people in total were on site at the time of the tragedy
“The investigations are continuing to determine the circumstances of the facts and the exact number of victims concerned, many witnesses being present on the spot”, explained the prosecutor of Epinal, who does not specify the total number of injured. Earlier, he had told AFP that “more than twenty witnesses” were to be heard.
According to initial information provided in the morning, the Codis had reported six victims, “one dead, one “UA” [absolute emergency], four “UR” [relative emergency]”, struck near a nightclub. One of the people in relative emergency, however, may not have been physically injured but be in a psychological “state of shock”, Carole Dabrigeon, sub-prefect of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, told AFP. the permanence of the Vosges prefecture this weekend.
“Between thirty and forty people” were shocked, Ms. Dabrigeon said in the early evening. According to France Bleu Sud-Lorraine, thirty-seven people in total were on site at the time of the tragedy. A medico-psychological cell was opened in Charmes, according to Codis. The victims are young, although their ages are not yet known with precision: according to the firefighters, they would be “between 25 and 30 years old”; “between 18 and 25,” according to Ms. Dabrigeon.
