PARIS: Exceptionally heavy snowfall brought public transport in Paris and surrounding regions to a near halt Wednesday, spelling misery for commuters after hundreds were forced to abandon their cars to sleep in emergency shelters overnight.
Icy streets were largely empty as officials urged people to leave vehicles at home following the 12 cms of snow that blanketed the capital, shutting down some tram and commuter rail lines, and almost completely halting bus services.
Officials had opened 46 shelters in the greater Paris region for more than 600 people stranded by the snow, while about 700 had to spend the night at the Montparnasse and Austerlitz train stations in Paris.
Some 230 people were had to sleep as best they could at Orly airport.
Operations were still disrupted at Orly and Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport Wednesday, with some flights facing delays while other travelers remained stuck.
At Charles de Gaulle airport, officials announced over loudspeakers that all suburban train connections to Paris had been canceled for at least several hours.
A dozen perplexed passengers waited outside a railway ticket office at one terminal.
“I tried to get into Paris by train. I was sitting on a train for half an hour and then everyone got up and left,” said Paul Farberman, a 66-year-old music industry executive who had just flown in from Los Angeles.
“They said there are no trains and no buses,” he added. “I love Paris. I would just love to get there and see it.”
Evacuations were still under way for the 1,500 to 2,000 people stranded on a highway south of Paris, prompting anger from drivers who said the route should have been closed to traffic sooner.
One driver, Antonio De Lemos, told AFP he had been “stuck in the snow since 5 pm” and spent the night in his car.
“It’s a natural event, but it’s not normal because they leave all the roads blocked, without salting them” to remove the ice, he said.
Forecasts for even lower temperatures are likely to freeze the heavy snow in place, making conditions even more treacherous, the Meteo France weather service said.
“We’re dealing with an exceptional situation,” interior ministry spokesman Frederic de Lanouvelle told AFP, urging people “not to use their vehicles.”
Some 25 departments across much of the northern half of France were on alert for snow and black ice, and more snow is expected to hit the country from Friday.
Paris police also urged people to leave their cars at home in order to avoid traffic jams and facilitate the work of rescue services and tow trucks.
Police had also closed major highways near Paris to lorries, and rail operator SNCF told clients to postpone their trips if possible.
Slobodan, a 46-year-old sales representative, said he had spent the night “going from cafe to cafe” near the Gare du Nord station in Paris after his train was canceled Tuesday night.
He had been hoping to make it home early Wednesday “to take a shower, change clothes and get back to work at La Defense,” the business district west of the capital.
But “all trains toward the suburbs have been canceled since 5:00 am,” he told AFP.
In addition, school buses were not running in several areas near Paris and other northern and central regions.
Heavy snow paralyzes Paris causing misery for commuters
Heavy snow paralyzes Paris causing misery for commuters
Family of Palestine Action hunger-strike detainee warn she could die
- Teuta Hoxha, among 8 people held on remand for over a year, has not eaten in 43 days
- Campaigners slam treatment of pro-Palestine prisoners on hunger strike
LONDON: A Palestine Action prisoner in the UK could die if the government does not step in over her hunger strike, her family have warned, amid claims that authorities have been “deliberately negligent” in the treatment of other detained hunger strikers.
Teuta Hoxha, 29, is on day 43 of her strike, having been held on remand in prison for 13 months over charges relating to a break-in at an Israel-linked arms manufacturing facility in August 2024.
She is one of eight people on hunger strike who were detained for their part in the incident at the Elbit Systems UK site.
Her sister Rahma said she can no longer stand to pray, and suffers from headaches and mobility issues.
“I know that she’s already instructed the doctors on what to do if she collapses and she’s instructed them on what to do if she passes away,” Rahma, 17, told Sky News.
“She’s only 29 — she’s not even 30 yet and nobody should be thinking about that,” Rahma added. “She’s been on remand for over a year, her trial’s not until April next year and bail keeps getting denied.”
The eight hunger strikers charged over the Elbit Systems break-in, who deny all charges against them, are demanding an end to the operation of weapons factories in the UK that supply Israel.
They are also calling for Palestine Action, which is banned in the UK, to be de-proscribed, and for their immediate bail.
They are not the only members of Palestine Action in prison carrying out hunger strikes. Amu Gib, imprisoned over a break-in at a Royal Air Force base earlier this year, was taken to hospital last week, having not eaten in 50 days.
Gib was initially denied access to a wheelchair after losing mobility, and campaigners said it was “completely unacceptable” that this had led to a missed doctor’s appointment, adding that Gib was also denied access to the vitamin thiamine.
Campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said: “At this trajectory, the hunger strikers will die unless there is urgent intervention by the government.
“It is completely unacceptable and deliberately negligent to pretend the hunger strike is not happening, or to dismiss the prisoners’ demands.
“They are in the custody of the state, and any harm that comes to them is a deliberate outcome of the government’s negligence and the politicisation of their detention.”
A relative of Gib told The Independent: “We wouldn’t know if Amu is in a coma or had a heart attack. I’m the next of kin and it’s on Amu’s medical record that I am to be contacted in the event of their hospitalisation.
“But it’s been complete agonising silence for 57 hours. I’m furious and outraged that the prison was withholding thiamine from the hunger strikers, without which they are at high risk of brain damage.”
The treatment of the hunger strikers has drawn high-profile criticism, with Dr. James Smith, an emergency physician and lecturer at University College London, telling The Independent that they “are dying” and would require specialist medical help.
Around 900 medical professionals in the UK have written to government ministers David Lammy and Wes Streeting urging them to facilitate medical treatment for the strikers.
Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the governing Labour Party, posted on Instagram that he had visited Gib in prison.
Seven hunger strikers have so far been hospitalized since Nov. 2, when the first prisoners began to refuse food.
Jon Cink and Umar Khalid both ended their strikes for medical reasons, having been hospitalized, while Kamran Ahmed told the Sunday Times last week that dying for his cause would be “worthwhile.”
He added: “Every day I’m scared that potentially I might die. I’ve been getting chest pains regularly … There have been times where I felt like I’m getting tasered — my body’s vibrating or shaking. I’ll basically lose control of my feelings.
“I’ve been scared since the seventh day when my blood sugars dropped. The nurse said: ‘I’m scared you’re not going to wake up (when you go to sleep). Please eat something.’
“But I’m looking at the bigger picture of perhaps we can relieve oppression abroad and relieve the situations for my co-defendants … Yes, I’m scared of passing away. Yes, this may have lifelong implications. But I look at the risk versus reward. I see it as worthwhile.”
Under UK law, time limits are set out for those in custody awaiting trial to prevent excessive periods in pre-trial detention.
But UK Prisons Minister Lord Timpson said in relation to the Palestine Action detainees: “These prisoners are charged with serious offences including aggravated burglary and criminal damage.
“Remand decisions are for independent judges, and lawyers can make representations to the court on behalf of their clients.
“Ministers will not meet with them — we have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system.
“It would be entirely unconstitutional and inappropriate for ministers to intervene in ongoing legal cases.”
Rahma says her sister calls her from prison every day, despite her predicament, to help with her studies.
“Our mother passed away when I was really young. Teuta took care of me and my siblings and made sure to read us bedtime stories.
“She’s always there for me and even from prison, she’s helping me do my homework and revise for exams.”
Rahma added: “My sister is a caring and loving person It feels like the state has taken a piece of me.”
She continued: “The only form of resistance she has is her body and that’s what she is using against the state.”
