France rocked by nationwide clashes, blazes, looting

PARIS, Oct 18: France woke up Sunday to devastated streets after clashes between police and protesters, mass looting and fires erupted nationwide as marches against rising costs of living degenerated into "extreme" violence.

The widespread unrest followed weeks of student protests and comes just six months ahead of elections to replace President Emmanuel Macron.

Whole streets in Paris "have been devastated", the city's mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said as groups of masked young men torched parked cars and ransacked shops.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who had condemned the "extreme intensity" of the violence, said 1,200 people had been arrested and 150 police officers hurt.

It was "a miracle the toll isn't higher", he said.

The violence began on the sidelines of marches in the capital and other cities over the cost of living that the interior ministry said were attended by 550,000 people.

The CGT union, which took part, said 800,000 people participated.

Police used tear gas and water cannon against protesters who threw projectiles and aimed fireworks.

A 17-year-old boy had his right hand blown off by a crowd-control grenade in the southern city of Saint-Etienne.

During and after those demonstrations, gangs of youths roamed city streets, sporadically confronting police, while setting fires and attacking shuttered stores to break in and empty their shelves.

Scores of shops -- supermarkets, pharmacies, luxury boutiques, clothing retailers, opticians, cosmetic vendors and consumer electronics stores -- were looted in Paris, Marseille, Nice, Nantes, Bordeaux, Limoges, Lille, Toulouse and Strasbourg.�" AFP