Buses burned and projectiles fired: a second night of violence in Rillieux-La-Pape near Lyon

Urban violence broke out on Friday evening in Rillieux-La-Pape, near Lyon, for the second night in a row, with buses burned and projectiles fired on the police, we learned from the prefecture.

The incidents began around 9:00 p.m., when “around twenty individuals” stoned two buses from the Transports en commun Lyonnais (TCL) company before setting them on fire. The police who arrived to intervene were fired upon by projectiles and a police officer was slightly injured in the face, the prefecture said.

The situation “is frozen”we added from the same source around 11 p.m. The prefect delegate for defense and security Juliette Bossart-Trignat went to the site with the mayor of the commune Alexandre Vincendet (Horizons).

On video images published on social networks, we could see the carcasses of two buses engulfed in flames, on a lane reserved for them, emitting heavy black smoke. Residents of apartment buildings located directly opposite the burning buses left their homes for a moment for fear of the nearby flames, before returning to their homes.

On its website and X (formerly Twitter), the TCL network reported a “major incident” with a traffic stop on line 33 of its buses in Rillieux-La-Pape, due to a “malicious act”.

On X, the prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Fabienne Buccio, condemned “firmly condemn the criminal violence committed this (Friday) evening” and brought “his support for the injured police officer, the (TCL) agents and the residents”according to a message published by the prefecture.

“CRS reinforcements are deployed this evening in Rillieux and will be mobilized this weekend alongside the staff of the National Police and the municipal police”it is added. “Investigations are underway to find the perpetrators who will have to answer for their actions. The State will act firmly”concludes the message.

Thursday evening, incidents had already taken place in Rillieux-La-Pape. Of the hooded young people had set fire to several cars and trash cans and three people were arrested, according to the prefecture.

According to Mr. Vincendet, mayor of this town located northeast of Lyon, those arrested on Thursday evening are minors. “Beyond the legal proceedings which will be initiated against them […] It goes without saying that these delinquents, all minors, and their parents, are exposed to the suspension of optional aid from the municipality and the municipal social action center.he wrote on his Facebook page.