The French government called for calm after announcing the brain death of a young man of Turkish origin (16 years old) after his motorcycle collided with a police car on a road outside Paris.
The victim’s family lawyer accused the police of ramming the boy’s motorcycle into a patrol car during a high-speed chase.
Prosecutors said two policemen were being held pending a possible investigation on manslaughter charges. They quoted the police as saying that the young man did not comply with orders to stop while he was riding his motorcycle on the sidewalk and collided with a police car at an intersection while trying to escape.
Prosecutors stated earlier Thursday that the young man had died.
After Wednesday’s accident, the boy, whose lawyer Yassine Bouzrou said he holds dual French and Turkish citizenship, was transferred to the hospital after suffering serious injuries at the scene of the accident.
Government spokesman Olivier Veran said that ongoing investigations would determine the “exact circumstances” of the incident.
He told France Inter radio: “I clearly call for calm… I call for restraint and careful thinking.”
He continued, “No matter how tragic the situation is, it requires answers that we do not yet have.”
Source: National Iraqi News Agency
