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Saint-Jean-de-Luz: the migrants struck by the TER tried "to escape possible controls"

2021-10-14T06:52:10.265Z


Asleep on the tracks Tuesday, the four people were surprised by the arrival of the train connecting Hendaye and Bordeaux, according to the testimony


The investigation continues after the death of three migrants on Tuesday 12, mown down by a train near Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Based on the testimony of a survivor of the accident, the Bayonne prosecutor Jérôme Bourrier said Wednesday, October 13 that the victims "had taken refuge on the tracks to escape possible controls".

This fourth man, present with them and very seriously injured, spoke succinctly from his hospital bed, the prosecutor told an AFP correspondent.

While they appeared to be resting on the tracks as the train headed for them, this survivor confirmed that they had stopped to rest and fell asleep on the tracks.

The man was however not able to give the identities of the three victims, very probably of Algerian nationality.

"The small group was formed a little earlier in Spain and they did not know each other," said the prosecutor.

Tribute and indignation

On Wednesday evening, around 300 people gathered in front of the Saint-Jean-de-Luz station, at the call of local associations of aid to migrants, to pay tribute to the victims of this tragedy as well as "to alert, to protest , to be indignant ”, according to the local newspaper Sud Ouest.

According to Amaia Fontang, president of Etorkinekin, a collective that brings together 13 groups of support for migrants in the Basque Country, interviewed by AFP, the accident occurred after "a day of significant police pressure in several parts of the Basque Country" , which “could explain why these migrants sought to take refuge in a place to be quiet”.

Spain is one of the main gateways to Europe for migrants and the Basque Country is one of the important crossing points.

“The conventional tracks being more closely guarded, they pass by the railroads or the edge of the highway.

This summer, we counted nearly 1,500 people who arrived in Pausa (the reception center for migrants in transit in Bayonne, Editor's note).

But how many have crossed the border without going through it?

», Asks Line Targe, volunteer of the Lucien association of assistance to migrants Elkartasuna Larrun, in the columns of South West.

The region had already been the scene of similar dramas last August and May, with the death of two migrants who tried to cross the Bidasoa border river to cross into France.

Source: leparis

All tech articles on 2021-10-14

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