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Two held as Paris pedestrian dies after being hit by electric scooter

French police have detained two women suspected of being on an electric scooter that fatally injured an Italian pedestrian in Paris, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Two held as Paris pedestrian dies after being hit by electric scooter
The safety of scooters has been the subject of fierce debate in Paris. Illustration photo: Thomas Samson/AFP

The pair are suspected of fleeing the scene by the Seine river after the incident last week, which revived debate over the safety risks in allowing the devices on busy city streets.

A search for the riders and calls for witnesses were launched after the accident shortly after midnight on June 14th.

The victim, a 32-year-old Italian identified as Miriam, was with friends on a pedestrian stretch of the riverbank when she was hit by a scooter driven by two women.

She was taken to hospital in a critical condition and died two days later.

The two suspects face charges of manslaughter and fleeing the scene of an accident.

A #Miriam hashtag went viral in indignant social media posts, with many calling the scooters a public danger that should be subject to stricter controls.

Since 2018, Paris has been flooded with at least 15,000 electric scooters available for rent, drawing the ire of residents and city officials complaining they are cluttering up already crowded sidewalks and squares.

Officially they are forbidden on sidewalks and only one rider is allowed, but enforcement is scant and many riders, including tourists, ignore or are unaware of the rules.

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CRIME

One dead, several injured in Paris suburb shooting

One person was killed and six injured overnight in a gritty northern Paris suburb in a shooting likely linked to drug trafficking, prosecutors and the mayor said Saturday.

One dead, several injured in Paris suburb shooting

The attack in a parking lot near a cultural centre at Sevran, which lies between central Paris and the city’s main airport Charles de Gaulle, took place around 11:45 pm (2145 GMT) Friday, prosecutors said.

Upon arriving on the scene, police found four injured people strewn on the ground. One died soon after and the three others were taken to hospitals in a serious condition, a police source said.

Three more people injured by bullets were later taken to hospital, the source said, adding that two men had arrived in the parking lot in a car and one of them got out and opened fire.

The attackers then fled.

Sevran mayor Stephane Blanchet told AFP “it was clearly a settling of scores linked to drug trafficking.”

“There is a need to establish order and eradicate trafficking,” he said. “Those idiots fired live bullets and did not heed appeals for calm”.

Police have opened an investigation into intentional homicide by an organised gang, they said. No arrests had been by Saturday morning.

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