A
“yellow vest” anti-government protester has died after being hit by a truck in
southern France, a local prosecutor said Thursday.
The
incident happened during the night at a roundabout near a motorway exit in the
city of Avignon.
“The
driver of the truck has been taken into custody. The victim was 23-years-old,”
said the deputy prosecutor for Avignon, Caroline Armand, confirming a report on
French television news channel LCI.
“It
appears the driver is a Polish national,” she added.
The
“yellow vest” protesters, so-called because of the high-visibility jackets they
wear, first took to the streets on November 17 to protest fuel tax hikes.
The
protests have ballooned into a mass movement over rising living costs, and have
spiralled into weekends of violence and vandalism in Paris and other cities.
The
latest death was the sixth during the nationwide road blockades and protests,
all of which appear to have been accidents.
On
November 17, a demonstrator was killed in the eastern Savoie region after she
was hit by a motorist.
Two
days later, a motorcyclist was struck by a van which was trying to avoid
protesters, and died of his injuries the next day.
On
the night of December 1-2, a motorist was killed after colliding with a truck
that had stopped in traffic that had built up due to a “yellow vest” blockade
in Arles, southern France.
Also
on December 1 an 80-year-old woman was injured by a tear-gas grenade in
Marseille, and died the next day.
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