Two strikers hit by bus at Bezannes: company boss held in custody
An ambulance company boss was taken into police custody after hitting two protesters with a bus during a strike picket near Reims.
Strike picket hit by bus at Bezannes: company director implicated
Two striking employees were hit by a bus on Tuesday 1st July at Bezannes, a municipality located south-west of Reims, in the Marne, according to France Info. The incident occurred outside the premises of Dewitte, a company specialising in ambulance services.
The two injured — a 24-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man — were transported to Reims University Hospital with relative urgency.
Boss suspected of driving the vehicle
According to the public prosecutor, the company director is suspected of having been at the wheel of the bus at the moment of impact. He was taken into police custody for violence with a weapon, the vehicle being classified as a weapon by destination. A video filmed by witnesses and shared by ICI Champagne-Ardenne shows the bus deliberately driving at one of the employees present on the picket.
Jean-Marie Hommet, secretary of the CFDT Transports union in Reims, declared to ICI Champagne-Ardenne that the driver had "deliberately" hit "the strikers". The CFDT Transports union indicated its intention to file a complaint.
A movement launched the previous day to denounce working conditions
The victims were participating in a strike movement that began the day before, on Monday, with approximately thirty employees of the company. The strikers were denouncing their working conditions as well as a lack of bonuses.
Present at the scene at the time of the incident, an employee named Madison testified to the atmosphere that prevailed that morning: "I am in shock. We were apprehensive about coming here, because we are a bit afraid of the boss. We knew that the boss was hot-tempered but not to this extent."
Source: France Info