Marine Le Pen Discovers Father's Death During Nairobi Layover
Marine Le Pen learned of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen's passing while in Nairobi, after a journalist alerted her via AFP. Unaware until then, she became emotional and contacted family. Earlier that day, she survived a barge collision in Mayotte. Her arrival in Paris is expected later that evening, without statements planned.
Marine Le Pen learned of her father Jean-Marie Le Pen's passing while on a layover in Nairobi, returning from a trip to Mayotte. The news was brought to her attention by a journalist who checked his phone and saw alerts from AFP announcing her father's death at the age of 96.
According to Pierrick Bonno, a journalist from Franceinfo, Marine Le Pen and her team were unaware of the situation until they turned their phones back on. "We discovered the alerts from AFP indicating the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen," he explained. Upon receiving the news, Marine Le Pen went to the cockpit of the plane to call her relatives in France. Clearly very emotional, she chose not to speak to reporters.
This Tuesday was particularly challenging for Marine Le Pen, as she had already experienced a frightening incident earlier in Mayotte. In the morning, the barge transporting her between Grande-Terre and Petite-Terre collided with another vessel, resulting in several injuries, some of whom required hospitalization. Fortunately, Marine Le Pen emerged unscathed from the accident.
She is expected to arrive in Paris later this evening around 11 PM but has not indicated whether she will make any public statements regarding her father's death.