On Friday, Paris metro drivers went on strike in solidarity of a colleague who is facing legal action after a passenger was dragged to death by her trapped coat.

Last Saturday afternoon, a woman in her forties was killed at the Bel-Air station.

Her husband and son were with her as she exited the carriage late, and the door closed on her coat.

She was dragged along the platform as the train rolled away, unable to free herself.

In the previous two weeks, there have been three fatal accidents on the Paris metro.

A 14-year-old American girl was murdered after she fell in front of a regional train at Cité-Universitaire station, and two inebriated homeless individuals were hit by a train at Gaieté.

Colleagues of the driver in the Bel-Air crash in eastern Paris were outraged that he was detained on Thursday night and subsequently placed under judicial investigation for involuntary homicide.

The individual tested negative for alcohol and drugs despite having 15 years of experience and a clean record. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

“Tragic incidents happen from time to time, but we have never seen a colleague being placed under judicial investigation like this,” said Jean-Christophe Delprat of the Force Ouvrière (FO) union.

“The cops arrived in force to arrest him in front of his traumatized wife and children.” He’s being treated like a criminal.”

Line 6 – the Bel-Air metro line – drivers stopped working on Friday morning in solidarity with their colleague, who has since been released from detention. Trains on the route resumed service in the afternoon.

The criminal inquiry, as well as a concurrent technical probe, will seek to determine the specific circumstances of the woman’s death, as well as whether any systems or machinery failed to function properly.