A 15-year-old student suffered a severe injury on Monday morning outside the Auguste Béhal high school in Lens, a city in northern France, during nationwide demonstrations over deteriorating school infrastructure and chronic staff shortages, leaving the teenager with his hand blown off amidst escalating tensions between student demonstrators and law enforcement officers deployed to maintain order.
Riot Police Deploy as Students Throw Projectiles
According to François-Xavier Lauch, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, the morning began with a gathering of students that quickly grew larger than previous protests. Lauch stated that participants began throwing projectiles, including stones, fireworks, and mortars, directly at local police officers stationed at the site. In response, authorities authorized the deployment of a company of riot police, the CRS, to secure the perimeter.
IGPN Launches Inquiry into Teenager's Injury
Accounts regarding the exact mechanism of the teenager’s injury differ. The regional newspaper La Voix Du Nord reported that the student lost his hand after picking up a police stun grenade. Officials, however, have not yet released specific details confirming the sequence of events leading to the blast. The regional prosecutor announced that an independent inquiry has been launched by the General Inspection of the National Police, the IGPN, to establish precisely what occurred.
High School Shifts to Distance Learning
Following the incident, administrators at the Auguste Béhal high school announced an immediate shift to distance learning to safeguard the educational community. The institution also established an internal listening and support unit to assist students and staff affected by the trauma of the morning’s events. Across France, approximately 500 schools experienced total or partial closures on Monday as student unrest over dilapidated buildings and underinvestment continued to disrupt classes.
Scrutiny Over Crowd Control and Medical Status
Prefect Lauch confirmed that while the injury was classified as a very serious incident, medical personnel transferred the teenager quickly to a nearby hospital, and his life is not currently in danger.
The student’s life is not in danger,
Lauch said, noting that the teenager was transferred very quickly to a hospital in the area as authorities moved to secure the perimeter and initiate formal inquiries into the police response.
