Four people, including a minor, were taken into police custody during the night between Sunday and Monday, following a violent attack on firefighters responding to an incident in Noyelles-lès-Vermelles. One of the firefighters was threatened by an individual carrying a knife.It is a strange tangled web that the police in Béthune will have to unravelling, following the violent attack on a team of firefighters in Noyelles-lès-Vermelles during the night between Sunday and Monday.
Called out at 00:56 to attend to a 6-year-old child experiencing breathing difficulties, three paramedics from Noeux-les-Mines immediately set off for the address given, the Résidence de l’Europe in Noyelles-lès-Vermelles (Pas-de-Calais).
At the scene, the mother of the alleged young victim could not understand what the firefighters were doing there, explaining that her child was fine.
The child is fine; the firefighters were attacked
Under circumstances that remain very unclear, what started as a routine call-out took a turn for the worse. The firefighters first checked on the alleged victim and realised that the child was fine.
Then, according to our information, an argument broke out between the mother, her partner and her ex-partner, who were also present in the flat. As the emergency services stepped back, a group of people emerged from another room in the flat and threw objects at them. A young firefighter was even threatened with a knife.
The firefighters left the scene, leaving their equipment behind, and took refuge in their ambulance whilst waiting for the police to arrive. Four people under the influence of alcohol, including a minor, were taken into police custody, according to the public prosecutor’s office in Béthune.
Complaints have been lodged by the three firefighters involved and the SDIS 62.