The accident occurred Tuesday morning at the site of a farmers’ demonstration in Pamiers, a town in Ariège, in the southwest of the country.
Protests by French farmers were hit by tragedy on Tuesday when a female farmer was killed in an accident at a roadblock in Ariège, authorities said. The victim’s daughter and husband were injured.
Prosecutor Franck Rastoul told France Bleu Occitanie that the three people were hit by a car and that investigators were working to determine whether the collision was deliberate.
The accident occurred before dawn at the site of a farmers’ protest in Pamiers, a town in Ariège in southwestern France, regional authorities said on social media.
The woman killed as well as her husband and daughter were members of the FNSEA agricultural union, said the union’s president, Arnaud Rousseau.
For months, farmers have been protesting for better wages and against what they see as excessive regulation.
Although a dialogue has begun between the main agricultural organizations and the government, farmers do not feel that they are being heard.
Anger across Europe
For several weeks, the anger of the agricultural world has been expressed across Europe: the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Romania.
Across the European Union, farmers are demonstrating against unfair competition, particularly from Ukraine according to them, or even national or European regulations that are too restrictive.
Delays in payments for the CAP, the Common Agricultural Policy, also exasperate the agricultural world. These issues should be included in the debates in view of the European elections in May 2024.