Vilnius (Lithuania), July 29: French actress Marie Trintignant remained hospitalised in a coma today after being beaten at her hotel over the weekend. Police identified her boyfriend, French rock singer Bertrand Cantat, as a suspect. Trintignant, 41, was brought to the hospital around 1030 IST yesterday from the Vilnius Domina Plaza Hotel where she was staying with her mother and Cantat, Dr. Robertas Kvascevicius, a physician treating her at Vilnius University hospital, said today. Trintignant, who starred in scores of French and several Hollywood films, had been in a coma for two hours before arriving at the hospital, he said. She underwent surgery yesterday to ease pressure on her brain caused by cerebral Haemorrhaging, but remained in a coma today.

"At this point, I cannot promise anything," he said when asked about her prognosis. Kvascevicius told France-inter radio that Trintignant was being kept alive by artificial respiration.

"In such cases, the chances for survival are minimal," he said. "The rate of mortality is 90 to 95 percent. There is little chance she will pull through it."


Cantat, identified by Lithuanian officials as Trintignant's boyfriend, is suspected of beating her early yesterday morning, police spokeswoman Ruta Andriuskaite said.
She said that Cantat, lead singer of the popular French band Noir Desir, had been admitted to the same hospital yesterday after drinking "dangerously high" amounts of alcohol but that he had been released today, returning to the Domina Plaza Hotel.


Bureau Report