Tension was high on the main site of the main hospital of Martinique this Friday afternoon 16th of october. At midday, two men were first questioned by the police. They are two stretcher bearers of the hospital of Mangot Vulcin. According to our information, one of them tried to enter the establishment without presenting his health pass to the agents in charge of the control.

The gendarmes who asked him to obey were taken to task. An incident justifying the double arrestation.

The hours that followed consisted of a face-to-face confrontation between police officers on one side and trade unionists and other demonstrators on the other. During long hours, the latter demanded the release of the two arrested, preventing two police vans from leaving the site. Nevertheless, according to police sources, the two defendants had already been discreetly exfiltrated from the hospital.

At the same time, the management of the hospital briefly received a delegation of the inter-union to discuss these arrests.
The gendarmes, for their part, were able to get out of this tense confrontation by moving the barricades set up by the demonstrators and by using tear gas.

A third man was arrested following these incidents, this time by the police. The three defendants are now in custody at the Fort-de-France police station.

The arrival of mobile guards as reinforcements just before 4pm added further tension. Finally, it was around 4:20 pm that the police and gendarmes left the hospital. On the side of the police force, four gendarmes were injured and some equipment destroyed. Complaints will be filed for the violence and damage, warns the General Command of the Gendarmerie of Martinique.