France ordered to compensate family of jogger killed by toxic algae

Rennes, France: A French court on Tuesday ordered the state to compensate the family of a 50 year old man who died in 2016 during a run after inhaling...

Rennes, France: A French court on Tuesday ordered the state to compensate the family of a 50-year-old man who died in 2016 during a run after inhaling poisonous gas emitted by rotting green algae piled along the country's western coast.

The Nantes appeals court found France liable for the death of Jean-Rene Auffray, citing its "negligence" in enforcing environmental regulations to protect its waters and prevent toxic green algae blooms.

For more than five decades, tons of green algae have washed up annually on Brittany's beaches in western France, releasing hydrogen sulphide gas as it rots - a toxin that can prove deadly in high concentrations.

Auffray, a keen trail runner, died of sudden respiratory failure while jogging in the algae-choked Gouessant estuary near the city of Saint-Brieuc.

His family sued over his death, but in 2022 a court rejected the claim, ruling there was insufficient evidence to link the toxic algae to Auffray's death.