Two hurt in French police gun accident at Hollande event

French President Francois Hollande (3rd L) attends the inauguration of the new “Sud Europe Atlantique” (South Europe Atlantic) high-speed rail line, linking Tours and Bordeaux, on February 28, 2017, in Villognon, central France. The new rail link, which will be put into service in July, will allow passengers to travel between Paris and Bordeaux in two hours.<br />Yohan BONNET / AFP

A French policeman accidentally fired his weapon Tuesday, slightly injuring two people at an event where President Francois Hollande was speaking in southwestern France, an informed source said.

Hollande was inaugurating part of a high-speed rail line in Villognon, in the Charente region, when the accident occurred, the source said.

He said the policeman, a gendarme helping to provide security for the president, had inadvertently set off the gun.


“The bullet grazed one person’s calf and then lodged in another person’s leg,” he said, adding that the victims were in a VIP area at the time.

 Firefighters evacuated them but said their injuries were “light”.

Hollande continued his speech after the incident, witnesses said.