The balance sheet is heavy. Fifteen children and two leaders were injured in a scramble with the ponies of an equestrian center in Saint-M’Hervé (Ille-et-Vilaine), near Rennes on Tuesday.
What do we know about children?
According West France, these children, members of a holiday camp, came to visit the equestrian center accompanied by six leaders. This site hosts a colony of 26 children aged 9 to 13, the prosecution said on Wednesday morning. France Blue adds that these minors come from the communes of Ille-et-Vilaine and Mayenne. They were bringing the animals back for the night when a “crush” with the ponies then broke out.
What happened ?
The Rennes prosecutor’s office, requested by AFP, adds that according to the first elements of the investigation, “the children and two companions took around twenty ponies to the field. On the way, one of the ponies, probably the lead one, turned around for some undetermined reason, followed by others. In their flight, the animals jostled and overturned the group, ”said the prosecution.
What do we know about the severity of injuries?
At midnight, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, the firefighters reported “18 victims, including three seriously injured, 14 slightly injured and one victim involved”, but unscathed. Transported to the Rennes University Hospital, “they require special monitoring in intensive care”, comments the boss of Samu 35. The three most worrying injuries were hit in the head, according to local radio. Fourteen other children, also injured, suffered minor injuries to the limbs of the body.
Two adults were also evacuated in “state of post-traumatic stress”. A medico-psychological cell should be set up at the equestrian center, intended for the other children, the leaders and the staff of the equestrian center. The investigation was entrusted by the Rennes prosecutor’s office to the Vitré Research Brigade.