Teen injured by police grenade during Lens school protests

A 15-year-old was seriously injured when a police grenade exploded in Lens on Monday, October 5, during student protests over conditions in French schools. The teenager was taken to hospital, and Pas-de-Calais Prefect François-Xavier Lauch said the student’s life was not in danger. The circumstances of the explosion remain unclear, and a regional prosecutor said France’s police watchdog, the IGPN, would investigate. Accounts conflict over how the grenade reached the teenager. A police union source said the student appeared to have picked up a stingball grenade fired by riot police and that it exploded in his hand. But a girl quoted as a witness said he had not picked it up. Lens Mayor Sylvain Robert said the circumstances still needed to be clarified. The available accounts do not establish the sequence of events. Lauch said a larger gathering of students had assembled outside a school near the site. He said students initially threw stones, fireworks and mortars at local police, after which riot police were deployed to maintain order. The injury occurred in that context, he said. The school switched to distance learning on Monday and set up a support unit for its community.