MARSEILLE (AFP) – A 24-year-old woman has died after being hit by a stray bullet in an attack on a drug-dealing hotspot in the French Mediterranean city of Marseille, prosecutors said yesterday.
The woman was hit late on Sunday evening when a burst of fire from a Kalashnikov rifle tore through her apartment building. She was declared brain dead on Monday.
Around 40 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Marseille this year – a situation described as a “bloodbath” by city authorities. “This is a total tragedy,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told broadcaster France Bleu during a visit to the port city, which has a history of drug-related violence.
Sunday’s shooting raises new concerns about the impact of drug crime in Marseille, which is set to host fixtures for the Rugby World Cup and a visit from Pope Francis in the coming weeks.
Darmanin said it would take “a lot of police” to tackle the violence between drug gangs.
The minister was in Marseille to open a new building for an elite police unit called the RAID.
The woman was hit by a bullet that pierced the plywood surround of her third-floor window, the city’s Chief Prosecutor Dominique Laurens, said.
“She was admitted to hospital with a serous wound to the head and in danger for her life. She died in the early hours of Tuesday,” she added.
