Armed forces were protecting New Caledonia's two airports and port after a third night of violent riots that have killed five people, the Pacific Island's top French official said on Thursday morning, adding at least four alleged instigators were under house arrest.
A gendarme was killed on Thursday in France's riot-struck Pacific territory of New Caledonia by an "accidental gunshot", Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told AFP. "It was not a hostile shot" that killed the officer, added a source informed about the incident, which brings to five the number of deaths in unrest since Monday, including two gendarmes.