Man drives car into group of pedestrians in French city of Caen, killing two
France 24 · LC · trust 78/100
A car ploughed into pedestrians in the French city of Caen late Wednesday, killing two people and injuring nine others. Police detained a 26-year-old man after he fled the scene, while prosecutors said the incident was not currently being treated as terrorism.
By: FRANCE 24 Police investigate the scene where a man drove a car into a group of people in the northwestern French city of Caen, killing one person and injuring 10 others, on August 26, 2026. © Matthieu Clavel, AFP French police said Thursday that a second person had died after a man drove a car into a group of people outside a bar in the northern town of Caen.
The 26-year-old Russian-origin driver was detained after the rampage on Wednesday night, which authorities originally said killed two people at the scene and left nine injured.
Seven of the injured were in critical condition and police said the latest victim had died early Thursday.
The ramming is thought to have occurred after a fight , a police source said, with the prefect of the department of Calvados, David Clavière saying the car "deliberately drove into pedestrians in the street opposite the train station".
The suspect, a 26-year-old man born in Russia , was not known to intelligence services but was known to the police "only for traffic offences", Clavière said.
He fled the scene but was later apprehended in Ouistreham, around 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) away, the police source said.
All of the victims seemed to be men aged between 17 and 40, Bruno Coutanceau, a top security official for Caen, told AFP.
Police had opened an investigation on charges of murder and aggravated assault, according to the deputy prosecutor.
"For the moment, we are not dealing with a terrorist motive, but the investigation is only just beginning," he said, declining to give details on the deceased man's identity.
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