Boy accidentally shot in head on hunting trip in France

A teenager was killed when he was accidentally shot in the head by his own grandfather during a hunting trip.

The boy, 13, was shot as he bent over to pick up a bird that had been shot, near the small village Triaize, western France, on Sunday morning.

He was airlifted to a hospital 65 miles away, in Nantes, where he later died. An investigation has been launched into how the incident took place.

The boy’s death is the second to take place on the opening weekend of France’s hunting season after a 57-year-old man was killed when he fell into a ravine in the country’s south western Alpes-Maritimes region on Saturday.

And in the Var region, in the south east, another man and his 12-year-old son were injured when they were hit by stray bullets. Their injuries were not fatal.

The incidents will likely fuel campaigns for a change in France’s hunting laws.

The head of the Association for the Protection of Wild Animals (APWA), Pierre Athanaze, told The Local previously: ‘Hunting needs to be stopped on Sundays, because this is the most dangerous day. 

‘There are more and more people heading out into the countryside on a Sunday, whether it’s for walking, mountain biking or collecting mushrooms. We want an end to it.’