Paris, October 19 (askanews) – Tear gas, water cannons, police charges, and street fires continued to erupt. Tensions remained high in Paris yesterday, Sunday, in the aftermath of the massive protests against rising living costs that swept across France. The arrest toll has risen to approximately 2.400, 855 of them in the capital city area.
Over 500 police officers, gendarmes, firefighters, and emergency workers were injured. One protester died of cardiac arrest, while in Saint-Étienne, a 17-year-old boy lost a hand to a riot grenade explosion. According to the Interior Ministry, over half a million people participated in the demonstrations.
The mobilization, born from student protests over school conditions, spread to include rising prices, fuel costs, and the loss of purchasing power. Most of the demonstrations were peaceful. But on the fringes, masked groups confronted police, set fire to cars and barricades, and looted shops in Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice, and Strasbourg. In Limoges, the 19th-century town hall was set ablaze. French President Emmanuel Macron urged a distinction to be made between those who took to the streets for legitimate demands and those who destroyed, devastated, and looted.
Marine Le Pen accuses the far left and Mélenchon's party of hijacking social demands. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who supported the protests, condemned the looting. With six months to go until the presidential election, images of the barricades are already campaign fodder.
Askanews