France protests: first protester dies in Paris as Saturday unrest leaves 1,800 arrested and 500 officers injured
Paris Police HQ confirmed a protester died of "cardiorespiratory arrest" during Saturday's demonstrations in Paris — the first fatality of France's cost-of-living unrest wave — as police made a record 855 arrests in the capital, nearly 1,800 nationwide, and more than 500 officers were injured.
A protester has died during France’s cost-of-living demonstrations, the first fatality of the unrest wave, as police confirmed a person taken ill during Saturday’s protests in Paris suffered a “cardiorespiratory arrest” (Paris Police HQ, via BFMTV). Police stressed the death was not linked to clashes, saying the protester was taken to a first aid centre and died when brought to the front of it.
France woke on Sunday to the wreckage of one of its most violent days of unrest in years. Police made a record 855 arrests in Paris and detained nearly 1,800 people across the country, while more than 500 officers were injured, the interior minister said (Reuters).
More than half a million people joined marches in scores of cities, where a month-long student movement merged with broader anger over rising living costs and declining public services. Fringe groups torched the 143-year-old Limoges city hall, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets, and invaded the Bordeaux prefect’s residence as a massive clean-up began from Lille to Marseille.
“No room for violence in our Republic,” President Emmanuel Macron posted on X late on Saturday. “Those who have ransacked, attacked the prefectures as well as businesses, looted even our town halls, will be prosecuted and punished” (Reuters).
Earlier: Limoges town hall ‘largely lost’ after night of arson · More on the France protests topic page
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