2 people were shot dead after ramming their car into police on the day of the French presidential election

The scene of the car crash into the police in Paris, France, on April 24 – Photo: REUTERS

AFP news agency quoted information from police as saying the incident took place on the evening of April 24, local time, shortly after preliminary results showed that incumbent President Emmanuel Macron won against far-right opponent Marine. Le Pen.

Accordingly, a car traveling in the opposite direction in the central area of ​​Pont-Neuf of Paris, refused to obey the stop signal and then accelerated towards the police, forcing a police officer to open fire, causing Two people in the car were killed. The third person in the car was injured.

There were many police officers gathered in the area at the time of the crash, including Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau. France has opened an investigation into the intentional killing of a person on official duty related to the incident.

According to Reuters news agency, images on social media showed some protests also broke out in central Paris after the results of the primaries. Police sprayed pepper spray on protesters and tried to disperse a crowd of mostly young people in the Chatelet area.

Before the election, there were also student demonstrations at the Sorbonne University area and some other schools.

According to the French Interior Ministry, with 97% of the votes counted, President Macron won 57.41% of the votes in favor while Le Pen received 42.59%.

In his victory speech, President Macron pledged to heal the divisions in the country after the election. Mr. Macron is expected to face many challenges in the coming term. The gap, the disparity between the middle-class and wealthy on the one hand and the workers with meager wages on the other, has widened more and more after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

French growth is also threatened by the impact of the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 epidemic, which is forecast to increase only 2% this year. That is not to mention the budget deficit and increased trade. Regarding foreign affairs, participation in the settlement of the Ukraine conflict will also be the top issue of the French leader.