Four migrants are in a critical condition after being shot during a brawl between Eritrean and Afghan migrants in the northern French port city of Calais on Thursday, local authorities said.
Another two migrants suffered less serious gunshot wounds and 12 others suffered other injuries, the local prefecture said, adding the numbers could change.
According to AFP, the seriously injured migrants were Eritrean youths aged 16-18 and one was said to have been hit by a bullet in the back of the neck.
The other migrants listed as being injured suffered “blows from iron bars”, the BBC reported.
French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb visited Calais overnight and said the clashes had been exceptionally serious.
“There’s been an escalation of violence that has become unbearable for both the people of Calais and the migrants,” the minister said, according to the BBC.
Several scuffles broke out mid-afternoon between migrants from different communities, authorities said.
The initial fight, was said to have lasted almost two hours, and began on the city’s southern outskirts.
It started when an Afghan fired shots, AFP said.
“The police intervened to protect Afghan migrants who were threatened by 200 migrants of Eritrean nationality,” authorities said.
A second melee erupted at an industrial site around 5km away.
Authorities said around 600 migrants are in the Calais region, though humanitarian groups put the number at 800.
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