バリケードに車突っ込み２人死亡、農家が抗議活動で設置　仏南西部

【フォア（フランス）ＡＦＰ＝時事】フランス南西部アリエージュ県の幹線道路で２３日未明、燃料費高騰などに抗議する農家が積み上げたバリケードに乗用車が突っ込み、その脇にいた女性（３５）と娘（１４）が死亡した。女性の夫（４０）も重傷を負った。（写真は、仏アリエージュ県パミエで、農家が抗議活動で設置したバリケードに突っ込み大破した車）
　地元の検事によると、道路には刈り取られた麦の束の塊が積み上げられていた。そこに乗用車が突っ込み、３人をはねた。
　警察によれば、乗用車はスピードを出していた。アルコール・薬物検査で陽性反応は出ていない。地元の検事は、乗用車にはアルメニア人３人が乗っていたとし、初期捜査では意図的に衝突したとは認められないとしている。３人は過失致死容疑で身柄を拘束された。
　死亡した女性は、全国規模の農家の抗議行動を主導している、農業経営者組合の全国連合「ＦＮＳＥＡ」のメンバーだった。フランスの農家は食料品価格が低く抑えられていることや燃料価格高騰などへの不満を強めており、ＦＮＳＥＡも少なくとも今週いっぱい、抗議行動を続けると表明していた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/01/24-16:08）

A car rammed into a roadblock put up by protesting farmers in southwestern France on Tuesday, killing a woman and her teenage daughter, and seriously injuring her husband.
Farmers have been blocking roads across the country in protest at what they say are deteriorating conditions in the agriculture sector.
The three occupants of the car that crashed into the barrier on a motorway in the southwestern department of Ariege were taken into police custody on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, police said.
The vehicle was travelling on the dual-lane carriageway leading to the roadblock despite it being clearly marked as closed to traffic because of the protest, Ariege prefect Simon Bertoux told reporters.
But a local prosecutor, Olivier Mouysset, said that early results of the investigation suggested that the car, carrying a couple and a friend, had not rammed the barrier intentionally.
In the dark, the car ran into a wall made of bales of straw at the roadblock, hit the three people and only came to a halt when it crashed into the trailer of a tractor, Mouysset said.
The 35-year-old woman who was killed was a member of the powerful FNSEA farmers union, which has been leading nationwide protests.
Her 14-year old daughter was taken to hospital where she later died. The wounded husband is 40.
- 'At speed' -
A police source added that the car was travelling at speed as it drove into the barrier.
A test showed that the driver, a 44-year-old man, was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
All three occupants of the car are Armenian nationals, Bertoux said.
The broader southwestern Occitanie region has been a focal point of farmers' protests in recent days.
Farming union representatives on Monday met Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to discuss their grievances, which include low food prices, rising charges for farmers, higher fuel prices and environmental protection rules that they say are unacceptable.
Tensions have been running high, with the FNSEA announcing protests all this week and beyond if the government failed to respond to its demands.
In the current circumstances that farming has to endure, this kind of drama is difficult to bear, said FNSEA president Arnaud Rousseau, who first reported the incident.
- 'Nation is devastated' -
At his meeting with the farming representatives on Monday evening, Attal made no immediate announcement but promised that a number of measures would be unveiled by the end of the week, according to Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau.
The nation is devastated by the accident, Attal said on Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter.
President Emmanuel Macron said he has asked his government to offer concrete solutions to the farmers' problems.
My thoughts go out to the victims and their loved ones who are mourning them, he said, also on X, calling Tuesday's accident a drama that has devastated us all.
The FNSEA's Rousseau said the farmers' mobilisation would not be affected by this drama and that the struggle continues.
Several motorways across the country were blocked by tractors on Tuesday.
Protesting farmers at roadblocks observed minutes of silence for those killed in the accident.
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