Rennes's public prosecutor said a 16-year-old boy has been arrested and a girl later came forward; both are in custody as divers search the nearby Vilaine for clues.
The investigation is moving forward after the death of a 12-year-old boy in Rennes on Sunday late afternoon.
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A 16-year-old boy was arrested on Monday morning, and another teenage girl turned herself in to the police shortly afterwards. Both have been taken into custody, according to the city’s public prosecutor.
For the time being, how this tragedy unfolded and the link between the three minors remain unclear.
The Rennes public prosecutor’s office immediately opened an investigation for the murder of a child under the age of 15, entrusted to the organised and specialised crime division.
On site, significant resources are still deployed. Fire brigade divers are currently searching the river Vilaine for evidence. In this usually quiet district of Rennes, residents are in shock and struggling to comprehend the death of such a young boy.
Like a horror movie
The alarm was raised after a fisherman heard a child screaming but was unable to locate him, according to the first elements of the investigation. Shortly afterwards, witnesses discovered the young boy and alerted the emergency services.
When they arrived, firefighters took charge of the child, who was found in cardiorespiratory arrest after a towel had been tightened around his neck. Despite several attempts at resuscitation carried out with the SMUR emergency medical team, the doctor eventually pronounced him dead at the scene.
The boy’s parents arrived shortly after the incident. According to witnesses interviewed by Ouest-France, the mother had been actively searching for him at the time of the events, while the father arrived after the emergency services.