On Thursday 1 October 2026, in Aix-en-Provence, several hundred young people who have just blockaded the Vauvenargues lycée head toward the cours Mirabeau, in the town centre; some throw objects at law enforcement (franceinfo). At place de la Rotonde, a stone hits a passer-by in the face (prosecutor’s statement, quoted by franceinfo, France 3 and ICI).
The prosecutor specifies that the victim was not taking part in the protest, that she is still hospitalised on 5 October, with 45 days of ITT and a possible disability if the sight of the eye cannot be recovered. Europe 1, repeating an AFP dispatch and La Provence, writes “from a source close to the case” (translated) that she “lost an eye” (translated); this detail does not appear in the statement quoted by the other media and does not come from a named authority.
Follow-up
On Monday 5 October, a minor is arrested and placed in police custody for “violence with a weapon resulting in permanent disability, acts of a criminal nature” (translated); he was identified by cross-checking video surveillance images, testimonies and technical investigations. During his first interrogation, he admitted “having been present among the protesters and having thrown stones at law enforcement without intending to hit anyone in particular” (translated) (prosecutor, via franceinfo, ICI, France 3). He is presumed innocent. The three articles repeat the same statement from the prosecutor; the Bouches-du-Rhône police prefecture confirms the arrest to AFP, according to Europe 1, which also cites La Provence.