The accident took place in the Saint-Maurice district in Lille.

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  • In December 2017, two young people died after being struck by a TER near Lille Flandres station.

  • The thesis of a chase with the police had been mentioned at the time.

  • The investigation, closed, ruled out the involvement of a police patrol intervening in the area that night.

The judicial information on the death of two young men, struck by a TER in 2017 in Lille while the police were nearby, was closed, we learned, Wednesday, from the prosecution and the lawyer for one of the families.

On December 15, 2017, at 8:43 p.m., four young boys aged 17 to 20 were struck by a regional train about 1 km from Lille-Flandres station, in the Saint-Maurice Pellevoisin district.

Two of them, Selom and Matisse, succumbed to their injuries while two others were injured, one seriously.

"No criminal offense" according to the Lille prosecutor's office

At the time, the prosecution did not immediately mention the presence of the police in intervention nearby, before, a few days later, to report it.

A judicial investigation in search of the causes of death had been opened.

"The hypothesis of a chase by police officials must be ruled out," said Wednesday, in a statement, the prosecutor of the Republic of Lille, Carole Etienne.

She concludes "that no criminal offense" appears "to be at the origin of the death of young people".

That evening, at 8:20 p.m., a crew from the Specialized Field Brigade (BST) "aboard a screen-printed vehicle intervened at the 16 Cité Saint-Maurice, following a call to 17, for a brawl on the public highway. », Reports the magistrate.

"Once there, the officials could not find anyone, the local resident who had reported the assault having left the premises without making herself known."

According to the prosecution, “it is also established by the testimony of a resident that these police officers could not pursue the four young people, since they knocked on her door to ask if she was the author of the call [ …] At the moment when she was witnessing, through her window overlooking the railway, the flight of those concerned climbing a wall and climbing on the roofs of the garage to reach it ”.

“At the mere sight of the flashing light […], the latter made the decision to leave the premises, on their own initiative and without being forced to do so by anyone, by taking an escape route to reach the railway line […] used by some as a shortcut, ”she adds.

Family lawyers do not want "to stop there"

“There are a lot of questions that arise, materially, on what could have happened, on what they (the victims) were doing in that place, at that hour.

It would be very surprising if they had been there by chance.

Today, we have no answer, ”lamented to AFP master Audrey Jankielewicz, lawyer for Matisse's mother.

“We must close all the doors.

It was not done at all, it is not satisfactory at all, ”she added.

Indeed, the lawyers of the families of the deceased had demanded a reconstitution, which never took place.

Master Jankielewicz, affirms to study the most relevant remedy to "not stop there".

Lille

Young people hit by a TER in Lille: Were they trying to flee the police?

Lille

Young people killed by a train in Lille: The investigation rules out the thesis of police control

  • Accident

  • Train

  • Investigation

  • Lille