Lawyer Youri Krassoulia, instructed by the partner of a 59-year-old freelance performing-arts worker who died on Saturday during violence in Paris, said on Thursday that the family wants the prosecutor’s office to release the autopsy results as soon as the examination has been carried out, so the causes of death can be known. He said the man had no heart problem and that nobody was keeping the relatives informed or giving them more precise information.
An inquiry to establish the causes of death has been opened to determine the circumstances. According to initial findings reported by the public prosecutor’s office, the man is believed to have died after a probable sudden illness near République. He died in rue du Château-d’Eau, a street running from Place de la République, one of the centres of Saturday’s violence. His body was taken to the forensic medical institute.
Contacted again on Thursday, the prosecutor’s office said the investigation was continuing and that the Paris prosecutor had asked the association Paris aide aux victimes to support the relatives. Krassoulia said they are now looking for any information or witness accounts, including video recorded before and at the moment of the death.
The police prefecture said that at 6:20 p.m. on Saturday firefighters were called for a 59-year-old man unconscious on the street at the corner of rue de Lancry and boulevard Magenta. Because security conditions nearby had deteriorated, he was moved to the Château-d’Eau rescue station, where he died at 6:55 p.m. despite emergency care.
A separate inquiry concerns a second death in Paris overnight from Sunday to Monday. A 48-year-old man died in rue Berger, in the Halles district, after a sudden illness on the street, despite a rapid response by firefighters, the police prefecture said.