The cousin of Adama Traore, also known as the French George Floyd, jumped into the river Seine and drowned as he was trying to get away from police officers. The family denies the officers account and is trying to locate witnesses. Video attached.

The infamous Traore clan, a family of Malian descent, is known for having many members with an extensive criminal history. In a recent, unlucky encounter with police, one of them lost his life while trying to escape arrest.

The incident took place in Bougival near Paris in Yvelines departement. According to French daily Le Parisien, police was alerted by an eyewitness who saw suspicious figures loading two scooters into a white van.

The arriving officers engaged in a pursuit with the van. The the driver suddenly stopped the vehicle, jumped out and fled. However, when he chose to cross the bridge to the Ile de la Loge island on the Seine, he trapped himself, leaving only one way back to the mainland. Short of viable options, the suspect decided to jump into the river and swim ashore, but he sank in exhaustion. One of the officers jumped after the unconscious man and pulled him ashore where they tried to resuscitate him, unsuccessfully.

Although the thief had no papers, police later identified him as a member of the ill-famed Traore clan known as Mahamadou. He was the cousin of Adama Traore, the man often referred to as the French George Floyd, who died following his arrest in 2016.

Mahamadou s sister, Kangne, rejects police allegations, saying her 35-year-old brother, a father of two, had no involvement in any theft. She published a video and asked potential witnesses to come forward in a bid to uncover the truth. The footage also shows the clan s leader and the family s well-known anti-racism activist, Assa Traore, standing next to the deceased man s sister. Assa also speaks in the video, claiming that both the police and the press have described Mahamadou as a criminal in their accounts of the incident, which is unacceptable for the Traore family. She added that they have contacted the family s lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, to initiate legal proceedings.

Having launched an investigation to clarify the circumstances of Mahamadou s death, the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) has only confirmed that authorities found two stolen scooters in the van driven by the deceased suspect, Le Figaro reports.