France protests: Limoges town hall 'largely lost' after night of arson
Prefect Maurice Barate told AFP the 143-year-old Limoges town hall was "largely lost" after masked protesters torched the building during Saturday's cost-of-living demonstrations, blaming a "deliberate act by hooligans".
The 143-year-old Limoges town hall was “largely lost” to fire during Saturday’s cost-of-living protests, prefect Maurice Barate has said, calling the destruction a “catastrophe for heritage” caused by a “deliberate act by hooligans”.
“The roof has collapsed onto lower floors, except the west wing, and two-thirds of the exterior has already disappeared,” Barate told AFP. The building — opened in 1883 and a historic monument since 1975 — was set ablaze after masked protesters torched a police car outside, smashed windows and forced entry; firefighters deployed late on Saturday. Several shops were looted. About 5,000 marched in Limoges, with several hundred called “radicalized and extremely violent” by the prefect (AFP).
Limoges mayor Guillaume Guerin said: “There are no words to condemn what happened: it’s so despicable. This is chaos for the country” and added he would file a complaint seeking punishment (Times Now News).
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told BFMTV the national turnout was about 550,000 — 110,000 in Paris — with around 400 arrests and 60 officers injured, two hospitalised unconscious. He called the troublemakers “extremely violent, radical far-left groups”; organisers claim closer to 800,000. A Lyon tourist office was torched and protesters briefly forced the lobby of Marseille’s city hall (Consensus Daily).
President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X: “Those who have broken, attacked the prefectures as well as businesses, looted even our town halls, will be prosecuted and punished” (translated from French) (New York Post).
More on this topic: all World stories
