It is 6 p.m. this Thursday, July 28, when the little girl who came from the North with her family, on vacation at Camping Biper Gorri, is on a pony ride, with the supervisors of the equestrian center Le Cheval de 3 d’Espelette. And “the ride went wrong” explains the mayor of Espelette, Jean-Marie Iputcha, shocked by this tragedy like the whole village.
“The child was part of an organized summer walk” he explains, “there were six of them on a walk, including the little victim’s mother, aunt and stepfather”. A walk supervised by a qualified instructor and a guide. Very quickly at the start of the walk horses and ponies get carried away following the barking of a dog. “The animal belongs to a local resident” further specifies Jean-Marie Iputcha, a female nurse. “The course of the ride was a classic. But there, why did the animals get carried away?” still wonder the mayor and the supervisors of the equestrian center.
“The little girl fell very badly”
The little girl fell very badly. She had her protection bomb, but it was her head that hit the ground violently. “We saw right away that it was very serious” still confides with emotion Jean-Marie Iputcha. The little girl in cardio-respiratory arrest when help arrived was transported “in a state of extreme emergency” to the Center Hospitalier de la Côte Basque in Bayonne. She died of her injuries and an autopsy must be performed, confirmed the public prosecutor of Bayonne. The girl’s mother and her aunt were also evacuated to the Bayonne hospital in a state of shock.
In the panic, many riders also fell despite the rapid intervention of the supervisors. A psychological cell has been set up within the equestrian center Le Cheval de 3 and where activity is stopped at least until Sunday July 31.