A protestor who died overnight Saturday during a violent clashes with police at the site of a contested dam project in south-west France was killed by an explosion, the local public prosecutor said, reports FRANCE 24.
Prosecutor Claude Dérens, based in the nearby town of Albi, told reporters that investigators could not rule out that a police grenade had killed demonstrator Rémi Fraisse in the environmental protest at the site of the proposed Sivens dam.
Dérens said this weekend that the clash in which the 21-year-old activist was killed also left seven security personnel injured.
Some 2,000 people had gathered to protest the controversial Sivens dam project in the Tarn region, which they say will benefit only a handful of agri-businesses.
Lieutenant Colonel Sylvain Renier of the Tarn police said between 100 and 150 "anarchists" wearing hoods threw incendiary devices at the security forces at around 2 a.m.
The security forces used tear gas, stun grenades and flash balls against the demonstrators, Renier said.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.