The “squirrels” have come down from the trees but the tension has not yet subsided on the controversial construction site of the A69 motorway, which will link Castres and Toulouse. During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, four devices were set on fire in the town of Saïx, in Tarn, we learned from the Atosca company, in charge of the work, and the Castres public prosecutor’s office. “Three tracked excavators and a compactor were completely destroyed,” Atosca said.
According to the concessionaire of the future highway, which will file a complaint, around thirty hooded people burst into one of its sites before attacking construction equipment. The Castres public prosecutor’s office confirmed that several devices had been damaged and that a gendarmerie investigation was underway, without giving further details.
A construction site transformed “into a battlefield”
In a press release, Christophe Ramond, socialist president of the Tarn Departmental Council, “condemned with the greatest firmness” these acts. Since the start of the project, there have been 200 attacks and damages and 80 complaints have already been filed, he said. “The State must quickly call on those responsible for these despicable acts which are transforming the A69 construction site into a battlefield. »
The A69 motorway project, which must be put into service at the end of 2025, was launched in March 2023. Since the start of work, the project has been the subject of strong opposition from citizens and environmental movements. who consider it “anachronistic”. A new mobilization is planned for Sunday in the streets of Toulouse.