INFO FRANCE 3. According to information from France 3 Occitanie, the driver who had run over and killed the young Aymen in Montpellier on the evening of the semi-final of the Football World Cup between Morocco and France was arrested near Perpignan this Tuesday, December 27.
The young driver who fatally mowed down a 14-year-old teenager in Montpellier on Wednesday December 14, the evening of the football World Cup match between France and Morocco, was arrested on Tuesday December 27 at the very start of the day. Aymen’s death had caused great emotion.
The conditions for the arrest of the young man remain to be determined with precision, but according to sources close to the investigation, the driver was arrested in the town of Saint-Estève, near Perpignan, around 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Still according to our information, the individual is 20 years old. He had returned from Spain during the night.
It is an investigation carried out by the Judicial Police of Montpellier which led to the arrest of this Tuesday morning. The driver was arrested by police officers from the BRI (Research and Intervention Brigade).
The driver at the origin of the accident was quickly identified thanks to numerous testimonies collected at the scene of the tragedy. His vehicle was found abandoned shortly thereafter. He had fled and, still according to our sources, he was hiding in Spain. According to the newspaper Le Parisienthe suspect was hidden precisely in Andalusia, “with members of his distant family and returned to France to find logistical support”. He would therefore have been arrested shortly after crossing the border.
Contacted by France 3 Occitanie, Marc Gallix, the lawyer for the young Aymen’s family, reacted after the driver’s arrest: “the family feared that he would not be found. They want a trial and suddenly they will have it“.
Another reaction, that of the mayor of Montpellier. On his Twitter account, Michaël Delafosse salutes “the commitment of the police force“. He writes again: “Justice can be served when the time comes. Our thoughts are with the family whose dignity and courage in this terrible ordeal command respect.t”.
On the evening of the tragedy, in the district of La Paillade in Montpellier, when the streets were crowded after Morocco’s defeat against France, a car mowed down several people, including young Aymen, a 14-year-old teenager who had no did not survive his injuries. According to the first elements of the investigation communicated by the prosecution the next morning, one of the supporters tried to grab the blue-white-red flag from the rear window of the vehicle. The driver of this one would then have left “violently from the line of vehicles in front of him” and had hit “a 14-year-old boy who died rapidly from his injuries”.
The scene of the drama had been filmed. A video sent to the editorial staff of France 3 Occitanie showed a group of people around a white car. The vehicle had made a U-turn in the middle of the street and violently jostled several people.
One of them had landed on the hood before falling to the ground and struggling to get up. Another person was hit by the left front fender and carried away by the vehicle, while the driver fled at high speed. The young man had remained on the ground, while the witnesses of the scene gathered around him.
Another video of the same scene was also filmed.
The death of young Aymen had provoked very strong emotion and aroused many reactions. The family quickly spoke, calling for “calm” and renewing “his confidence in the institutions of the Republic”. “Aymen’s disappearance plunges us into a terrible ordeal. We express our appreciation for the countless messages of condolence. We call for the greatest calm and express our confidence in the institutions of the Republic, police and justice, so that the perpetrator is arrested and tried.
The mayor of Montpellier also spoke. “Shocked”Michaël Delafosse had mentioned a “despicable act” and a “terrible tragedy”.
Incidents had also broken out in the Paillade district. Several garbage cans and a car had been set on fire and an apartment ransacked. At the same time, the incitements to avenge the 14-year-old teenager had circulated on social networks.
Messages strongly condemned by the family of the teenager and the imam of the district.“Don’t let the situation rot. Excessive words and gestures only escalate conflict. So I’m calling […] my children, young people, please, I beg you, come back home. Calm down !” implored the Cheick Farah, imam of the La Paillade mosque, during the great Friday prayer.
silent walk
Tuesday, December 20, a silent march brought together around 3,000 people between the forecourt of the Zénith and the cemetery of Grammont. On a banner present in the procession, one could notably read “Justice for Aymen”.
The family but also residents had first met in front of and inside the Averroes Mosque.