Migrant Dead After French Police Opened Fire on People Smuggler Van That Rammed Border Checkpoint

An Egyptian illegal migrant was killed this week by police in southern France after officers opened fire on a people smuggler’s vehicle that rammed a checkpoint near the Italian border.

The 35-year-old Egyptian national died on Wednesday evening after French border police were alerted by Italian authorities to a van, likely carrying illegal immigrants from Italy, that was travelling near the town of Sospel.

When the driver of the van refused to pull over for police, officers gave chase and a second police team later caught up to the van, which then drove toward the police, forcing officers to open fire on the vehicle, the newspaper Le Figaro reports.

Prosecutor of the Republic of Nice Xavier Bonhomme released a statement on the incident saying, “the van accelerated in the direction of (this) police vehicle,” and added that one of the officers “used his weapon four times,” to stop the van.

The van ended up in the Les Moulins neighbourhood in the city of Nice after escaping officers and was abandoned by the driver and two others sitting in the front of the vehicle.

When police discovered the vehicle, there were five migrants inside, including the 35-year-old Egyptian who had been shot in the head. the Egyptian was immediately taken to a local hospital but later died of his injuries.

Smugglers Lead At Least 600 To Their Deaths in the Med So Far This Yearhttps://t.co/VKDIr4TF5n

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The Public Prosecutor’s Office has since opened two investigations into the incident, including one of attempted homicide of a public official and another investigating whether the police officer who shot at the vehicle did so in self-defence.

The case comes just days after another migrant was killed and 17 others injured in Greece in the back of a truck while a people smuggler was attempting to flee police.

The Egyptian man is just the latest migrant to be led to their death by people smugglers this year. An International Organization for Migration (IOM) report released last month claimed that in the first three months of this year alone around 600 people have been led to their deaths attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.