One Person Shot Dead In New Caledonia Unrest: Official

Noumea, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th May, 2024) One person was shot dead and two others wounded on Tuesday night as violent protests and looting rock New Caledonia, according to the high commissioner of the French Pacific territory.

"Of the three wounded admitted to emergency, one is dead, the victim of a gunshot," High Commissioner of the Republic Louis Le Franc told reporters, adding that the deceased was not shot by the police or gendarmes but "by someone who clearly wanted to defend themselves".

Le Franc described the unrest as "insurrectional".

"This is a time for appeasement... it is essential to call for calm."

Le Franc said there were "shotgun exchanges between rioters and civil defence groups" in the capital Noumea and its Paita suburb.

There was also an attempt to storm a gendarmes station.

Security forces arrested 140 people in and around the capital overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.