French WWI veteran dies aged 108

One of France’s last World War I veterans, Rene Riffaud, has died at the age of 108, leaving just three known French survivors of the 1914-1918 conflict, the National Veterans Office said today.

Riffaud died overnight on Tuesday, said Marie-Georges Vingadassalon, a spokeswoman for the office. His family confirmed his death, although it was not immediately clearly whether he died in a hospital or at his retirement home, she said.