The party, which brought together some 10,000 people on private agricultural land, ended badly. Started during the night from Wednesday to Thursday in the small town of Parnay (Maine-et-Loire) near Saumur, the undeclared rave party was marred by the death of a man and violence on Sunday afternoon. Point.
A dead man
The tragedy took place on Sunday morning, while the party was still in full swing. Aged around thirty, the victim suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest before dying on the scene around 10 a.m., despite very rapid treatment by emergency services. The identity of the latter could not be established early Sunday afternoon, indicated in a press release the public prosecutor of Saumur, Alexandra Verron.
An “investigation into the causes of death” was opened, while a police source indicated that the deceased man was “under drugs”. Toxicological analyzes will have to establish the nature of the substances and especially whether or not there is a link with the death. By Sunday afternoon, around 200 people had been treated by emergency services, and at least ten were transported to hospital.
Several police officers slightly injured
Sunday was also the scene of clashes after around a hundred gendarmes came to seize equipment used by the rave party. According to the sub-prefect of Saumur Christophe Carol, in the afternoon they encountered several hundred people who intended to prevent them. Results: four gendarmes were slightly injured during the intervention and three revelers were arrested following this violence.
“We were faced with 500 to 600 very determined people, who threw empty cans and used metal scaffolding posts as weapons,” explained Christophe Carol. The authorities “preferred to refrain from seizing the equipment” to avoid an escalation of violence, he explained.
Sanctions distributed
The prefect of Maine-et-Loire, like many departments in the west of France, had issued an order prohibiting festive gatherings throughout the Ascension Bridge long weekend.
According to the sub-prefect of Saumur, all participants leaving the rave party site (devoid of toilets and water points before the authorities installed them) were checked by the gendarmes deployed on site and had to be fined. in particular for participation in an illegal assembly and participation in a disturbance. And this is without counting the procedures concerning narcotics, he added. No results of these operations have yet been communicated. The owner of the agricultural land will carry out an “assessment of the damage”.