Girl, 10, dies after elderly driver hit child cyclists in France

BORDEAUX, France – A 10-year-old girl died on June 7 of her injuries two days after an elderly driver hit her and other children who were cycling to a park in western France, a prosecutor said.

An 83-year-old woman driving on the wrong side of the road

hit a group of 12 children aged seven to 11

on June 5 in the coastal city of La Rochelle as they headed from a leisure centre to the park with two supervisors, officials and an eyewitness said.

The head-on collision injured seven of the children, including three seriously, the prosecutor’s office said.

The worst-injured child, a 10-year-old girl, was declared brain-dead on June 6 and her death was confirmed early in the morning on June 7, La Rochelle prosecutor Arnaud Laraize said.

She had been airlifted to the city of Tours for treatment.

Of the two others also seriously injured, another 10-year-old girl was still in serious condition in hospital in another city, Poitiers, while an 11-year-old girl was doing a little better in La Rochelle, the prosecutor said on June 6.

Of the other four who were injured, a nine-year-old girl whose condition had improved was transferred from one hospital to another, and one was operated on on June 6 and was in a stable condition.

Two other children were discharged on June 5.

The motorist, who tested negative for alcohol and narcotics, was initially placed in police custody but was later hospitalised and has not yet been questioned.

Since the girl’s death, the investigation has become one into involuntary manslaughter and involuntary injuries. AFP