<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>&nbsp;A 15-year-old teenager has been badly beaten in a town south of Paris and rushed to hospital following a cardiac arrest, in the latest incident of school violence in France.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Yesterday’s attack came at a time of heightened tensions around French schools.</div><div><br></div><div>Earlier this week a teenage girl was left temporarily comatose after being beaten outside her school in the south of the country.</div><div><br></div><div>In the new incident, which occurred in the town of Viry-Chatillon, located around 20km south of Paris, a teenager was attacked by several people as he left school yesterday afternoon.</div><div><br></div><div>The public prosecutor’s office said it had opened a probe into attempted murder and gang assault.</div><div><br></div><div>The schoolboy suffered cardiorespiratory arrest, a police source said.</div><div><br></div><div>He was rushed to Necker Hospital, a top paediatric hospital in Paris, said Jean-Marie Vilain, the mayor of Viry-Châtillon.</div><div><br></div><div>The assailants “tried to massacre him”, said Vilain, speaking of “the worst kind of thugs”.</div><div><br></div><div>“This extreme violence is becoming commonplace,” he added.</div><div><br></div><div>According to the mayor, psychological help would be provided to the pupils and teachers of the school, which the teenager attended.</div><div><br></div><div>According to a police source, the teenager was beaten by several people who then fled.</div><div><br></div><div>The pupil was found in a street “not far from his school”, according to prosecutors.</div><div><br></div><div>The school is located in a working-class district of Viry-Chatillon, which is home to around 30,000 people.</div><div><br></div><div>No arrests had been made by yesterday evening.</div><div><br></div><div>On Tuesday, a teenage girl was attacked outside her school in the southern city of Montpellier. Prosecutors said the girl was “seriously injured”.</div><div><br></div><div>Three alleged attackers have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a minor. One of the accused is a girl from the same school.</div><div><br></div><div>Dozens of messages threatening attacks have been sent to schools around France in recent days. - AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>