A 7-year-old boy and his 24-year-old sister were killed during the July 14 fireworks display on Thursday evening in Cholet, western France, AFP learned from the public prosecutor of Angers . A third person was injured following a “shooting incident“Occurred during the fireworks, shortly following 11 p.m., said prosecutor Eric Bouillard, confirming information from local media.
The boy and his sister were watching the fireworks with other family members and were “regarding fifty meters from the launch pad“during the accident, which occurred”around 11:10 p.m. on a field next to the Cholet stadium“, according to Eric Bouillard.”At this stage, no other injuries have been reported.“, added the magistrate, refusing to give other details.
Videos posted on social networks show explosions near the crowd who came to watch the fireworks in a park.
Asked regarding the circumstances of the accident, the prosecutor mentioned a “shooting incident“, without further details. “It’s way too early“to say more, he added. An investigation for manslaughter was opened and entrusted to the Departmental Security.
“A rocket exploded among people“
Quoted by France BleuGilles Bourdouleix, the mayor of Cholet, confirmed that “a rocket exploded in the middle of the people“. According to the same source, the city is working “For years” with the artificer. This is “a society that is used to fireworks, a serious society“.
“The public was in a usual place around the popular ball and there were apparently people near the stadium. The people in charge of security, from what I was told, would have asked people located there to move away, even if a priori there was no danger as such“, further specified Gilles Bourdouleix.
“Served as a shield”
Laurent Picard, who came to the fireworks with his two daughters aged 8 and 13, witnessed the accident, of which he published some video images on Facebook.
“I was 5/6 meters from the explosion with my two daughters, I received sparks and felt the heat of the blast“, he testified to AFP. “Fortunately, where I was placed I served as a shield for my daughters in a way“.
At the end of this video of a little over a minute, we see what looks like the explosion of a rocket among a small crowd massed behind a fence, then shouts and people running in all directions, while flames are visible on the ground.
“Is it a rocket that went askew or exploded on the way down? It happened so fast, I can’t tell“, he added.
Shortly following the explosion, Laurent Picard said he saw a man lying on the ground, apparently burned, and a woman to whom rescuers were giving heart massage. “It was screaming everywhere, it was a little panic“, he remembers, still shocked.
Despite the incident, the fireworks were completed and the crowd dispersed, he said. About 70 firefighters were dispatched to the scene, according to the Courrier de l’Ouest.
The investigation was entrusted to the Departmental Security of Maine-et-Loire and to the police station of Cholet.
