AND HERE IS THE NEWS…

….a quick glance at the latest local news with Caroline Manson

Carbon monoxide poisoning on Avenue Leclerc

Four construction workers were intoxicated by carbon monoxide fumes whilst working on a building on Avenue Leclerc in Perpignan. They were working in the basement of a building which houses a pizzeria on the ground floor but the fumes were actually produced by the internal combustion engine of the machine that they were using.  The road was closed for 2 hours while the building, and neighbouring apartments, were evacuated so that the properties could be ventilated.  One of the workmen was unconscious and taken directly to the Saint-Pierre clinic where he was placed in a hyperbaric chamber to recover, the other three were taken to Perpignan Hospital.

Body found in Etang de Salses

A kite-surfer made the macabre discovery of a lifeless body in the Etang de Salses near Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque.  Unfortunately the firefighters could do nothing and the victim, estimated to be between 70 – 75 years old was declared dead at the scene.  The circumstances of his death are not yet known and an investigation is underway.

Night Emergency department to close again

samu

The night emergency department of the Saint-Pierre clinic in Perpignan will again close at night from October 26th, for an indefinite period.  Only the Cardiology department will remain open for cardiac emergencies.  The department had reopened at night for the summer, after recruiting temporary doctors, but most of them have now found positions elsewhere and the clinic is understaffed, with just three full-time doctors and a handful of part-timers.  Patients will be redirected to the main Perpignan Hospital – and staff there are already concerned that waiting times in the emergency room will ‘explode’ and that the ‘exceptional’ waiting times of 10 or 12 hours will no longer be occasional, but will become a daily reality.



Shooting in Elne

out for the day elne

At around 3pm on Thursday, several shots were fired in the historic centre of Elne, and a man, with gun-shot wounds to his chest, was then dropped off a few kilometres away in front of the Perpignan-Sud fire station.  He was said to be severely wounded but his life was not in danger.  The shooter (or shooters) fled the scene.  The gendarmes quickly installed a security perimeter around the area and questioned several witnesses.  The incident is believed to be a settling of scores against a background of drug trafficking.

40kg of cannabis seized by the gendarmes

Police carrying out spot checks on a departmental road questioned a driver who they discovered narcotics in his vehicle.  Their enquiries led them to the address of a dealer, and when they searched the property their sniffer dogs soon discovered a stash of 40kg of cannabis.  During the same week they were also able to dismantle a dealing point in Canet-en-Roussillon.  Five defendants were arrested and taken into police custody.

Violent burglary at Saint-Marie-la-Mer

On hearing noises in the kitchen at 2am, the owner of the house went to investigate.  In fact he believed it was his daughter and her husband who often stayed with them and often arrived very late, so his idea was to ask them to make less noise to avoid waking his wife.  Unfortunately he came across 4 men in the middle of burgling his property, and while 48 year old Benoit managed to punch one of the men, the other three violently beat him up before running off with their loot.  Benoit suffered cuts to the eye and bruising to his back and ribs, and his wife is traumatised as she witnessed the beating.  Police are investigating.

Mobile phone thief finally arrested

In the Saint-Jacques district of Perpignan, a kind person lent his telephone to two young men who ‘wanted to make a phone call’ – only to see them run off with it, yelling insults as they ran.  Luckily the police were able to identify and arrest the two thieves (brothers aged 17 and 18), who were released with a summons to attend court.  Three days later police identified two suspects from an older phone theft case, when the thieves stole a smartphone by spraying the owner with tear-gas.  By chance the suspect was one of the two individuals arrested for the other theft a few days earlier, so he was once again brought in, this time with another brother (aged 20), presented to the magistrate, and released pending judgement.  Just 2 days later a man called the police to report that he had been assaulted in his own home and that his two attackers stole his phone.  It didn’t take long for the police to identify the two brothers, and this time they have been placed in pre-trial detention.  

And finally…

Customs officers at Bourg-Madame are used to discovering alcohol, tobacco and drugs when carrying out checks on vehicles travelling between Spain and France, but recently they discovered a different cargo – 100 turtles.  The animals were in a van travelling from Spain to the Czech Republic, and inside the officers discovered a real menagerie, including four Hortsfield land turtles and 100 aquatic turtles belonging to an invasive species whose importation is totally prohibited.  The driver, who could not provide any documents for the animals, received a large fine, and the turtles were entrusted to the French Biodiversity Office in Thuir.



Caroline Manson is an independent Property Consultant – for advice on buying, selling, renting or renovating, don’t hesitate to contact her at caroline@perpignan-properties.com

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