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A Parisian streetlight falls on a passerby in the middle of the street!

undefined undefined 17 septembre 2025 undefined 08h30

The Editor

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It's the most unusual news story of the year. Yesterday, while hurrying along (like any respectable Parisian), a man had the sky fall on his head, in the form of a vintage streetlamp.

In Paris, there are little touches that make the city instantly recognizable. Its Haussmannian buildings, Wallace fountains, kiosks, metro stations, and old lampposts stand out among thousands. These details of the city's urban architecture often go unnoticed, until the day they catch us by surprise. That's what a passerby experienced in the capital on Monday, September 15. The incident, fortunately without severity, still leaves one pondering.


An unexpected accident

This improbable event happened in the 6th district. Hanging from a balcony, a Haussmannian lamppost simply detached yesterday, falling onto the head of a young man who happened to be passing by at the wrong moment. And at th

At the intersection of Rue du Dragon and Rue de Grenelle, the artifact simply detached without any warning, landing right on the passerby’s head. Although he was slightly dazed, he luckily walked away with just a "simple wound on his head", and was taken care of by the emergency services quite swiftly. However, considering the weight and size of the object, the damage could have been much more serious if it had hit a child or an elderly person, for instance.


A Heritage to Maintain

The streetlamp, which doesn’t belong to the City but to a private owner, hasn't lit up for many years and is currently purely decorative. The shop located just below, which also has the floor where the lantern used to be, although it does not have access to the balcony where the light was, laments a lack of maintenance for this heritage item, regardless of whether it is private or public. This frustration is shared by the mayor of the district, Jean-Pierre Lecoq.