A gendarme has been killed in New Caledonia after an "accidental shooting", the Minister of Home Affairs and Overseas Territories, Gerald Darmanin, has announced.
"It was not enemy fire," said a source familiar with the situation. The deaths bring to five the number of people killed in the archipelago since the start of the unrest on May 13, including two gendarmes, AFP reported.
The minister announced that according to "initial data, the deaths occurred as a result of injuries caused by accidental shooting while the gendarmes were carrying out a security mission."
Gerald Darmanin, who expressed his "great sadness", added that he offers "all his support to the family, friends and comrades" of the murdered gendarme.
Sixty-four gendarmes and police officers have been wounded since the riots began in New Caledonia, according to the archipelago's French government spokesman Louis Le Fran.
According to the interior minister, police have made "more than 206 arrests." / BGNES
