French gendarme killed, two injured in Haute-Savoie road accident ahead of Evian G7 summit
A 38-year-old motorcyclist of the French gendarmerie died and two colleagues were injured on Saturday when a car veered into their convoy on a departmental road near Fessy, as security forces gathered for the G7 summit opening Monday in Evian.
The accident
A gendarme on a motorcycle was killed and two others were injured in a collision on a departmental road in Haute-Savoie on Saturday, 13 June. A car veered from its lane and struck a column of about ten gendarmes near the commune of Fessy, according to security sources cited by AFP. The officer who died was 38 years old. Franceinfo, citing a source close to the investigation, placed the crash at Lully, also in Haute-Savoie, and confirmed the three victims were travelling by motorcycle.
Security deployment
More than 14,000 French police, gendarmes and firefighters are mobilised to secure the summit, which runs from Monday to Wednesday. Franceinfo reported a breakdown of approximately 7,000 police, 6,000 gendarmes and 900 military personnel tasked with protecting the event. The gendarmes involved in the accident were participating in those security operations.
The G7 gathering
The diplomatic and economic conference will bring together the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and host nation France, along with the European Union. Evian, on the French shore of Lake Geneva, is the first French city to host a G7 summit twice, after the 2003 meeting.
