Agencies
France was reeling on Sunday from widespread damage caused by violent protests the day before that saw 1,800 people arrested, a historic town hall torched and widespread looting.
“It’s like we had a war,” a 78-year-old resident in central Paris, Mehmet Ozeden, told AFP amid burnt street barricades from the protests.
The convulsion raised the stakes for French President Emmanuel Macron, who is in his final months in power before elections to replace him in six months’ time. It followed weeks of student protests that had also turned violent at times. Macron was to address the nation Sunday evening at 1800 GMT, his office said, after meeting key ministers.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 1,800 people were arrested over the protests and looting, with investigations under way “to identify the perpetrators of these acts so they can be brought to justice”. Torched cars, smashed shopfronts and burnt debris scarred numerous streets in Paris, where officials said 557 people were in custody after a “record” number of arrests.
The capital experienced “a level of violence that we have never, I believe, seen before”, said Paris deputy mayor Lamia El Aaraje.
Hundreds of shops were looted in Paris and other cities, including Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice and Strasbourg, during the protests over the cost of living.
One person died during the main march in Paris, but officials said it was health-related and not linked to the protest violence.
Around 1,500 businesses were damaged, causing losses estimated in the hundreds of millions of euros, according to the Retail and Trade Federation.
One Paris resident, Anita Gras, out for a jog between the debris, said she saw young men loot a sports shoe retailer.
“They stayed until 1:00 am, we were afraid they were going to throw things at us,” she said. “It’s appalling, terrifying – groups of young people came here yesterday (Saturday), looting, smashing everything, with total impunity,” said another resident, 57-year-old Cecile Rogue, surveying a pile of charred bicycles.