A 25-year-old hiker was shot dead on Saturday February 19 in Cantal (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), in what looks like a new hunting accident.
The young woman died on the spot after having received a stray bullet around 3 p.m., during a wild boar beat which started in neighboring Aveyron and was taking place, at the time of the events, in the town of Cassaniouze, specified the gendarmes and the prosecution, confirming information from the regional daily The mountain.
According to the prosecution, the person who fired the fatal shot is a 17-year-old hunter. She tested negative for narcotics and alcohol and was taken to hospital in shock. An investigation has been opened by the head of” manslaughter “ and entrusted to the Aurillac research brigade, according to the prosecution.
“Unsustainable and unacceptable tragedy”
“The police are mobilized to shed light on this appalling tragedy”, reacted on Twitter the Minister for Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili.
All my thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the young woman who died today in a car accident… https://t.co/T3lb2tdwq6
Bérangère Abba, Secretary of State for Biodiversity, also reacted on Twitterevoking a “unsustainable and unacceptable tragedy”. “The investigation is underway, the decisions will follow, so that never again”she added.
Today in #Cassaniouze (15) a young hiker died hit by the accidental shooting of a hunter. Dram… https://t.co/nTyQpDtOuw
Since 2000, 3,325 hunting accidents have been recorded, causing the death of 421 people, according to the report of French Office for Biodiversity dated July 2020.
At the end of October, the environmentalist presidential candidate, Yannick Jadot, said he wanted to ban hunting on weekends and during school holidays. An idea “on which we must have a debate”had replied at the beginning of November Mme Pompili, ensuring however that “the majority has no desire to ban hunting”.