Overview
- A 15-year-old student suffered a neck injury when a chainsaw rebounded during a supervised practical exercise in a wood near Charols and later died despite firefighters' resuscitation attempts.
- The pupil was enrolled at Sylva Campus, a private vocational lycée in Montélimar that trains students in forestry trades and includes hands-on chainsaw work in its curriculum.
- Three school supervisors and 17 other students were present at the scene when the accident occurred during the morning session, local authorities and the fire service said.
- The préfecture of the Drôme and the fire service officially confirmed the facts and set up a cellule d'urgence médico-psychologique to offer care to witnesses and relatives.
- No public outcome of any formal investigation has been released so far and the death is likely to prompt scrutiny of training safety procedures and of how practical exercises are supervised.