France counted the damage Sunday after a day of protests over the cost of living ended in rioting, arson and more than 1,800 arrests. President Emmanuel Macron was scheduled to address the nation at 8 p.m. Paris time after an emergency meeting with senior officials, The Associated Press reported.
About 550,000 people marched across the country Saturday, according to authorities. Organizers put the number at 800,000. The movement began in schools, where students have been complaining about run-down buildings, and grew into a wider revolt over prices and public services. Most of the marches were peaceful. After dark, masked groups looted stores and attacked public buildings.
Limoges was hit hardest. Rioters burned a municipal police car outside the town hall, broke in and set fires inside, i24NEWS reported. The bell tower came down and the roof fell into the lower floors. The building opened in 1883 and has been a listed historic monument since 1975. Maurice Barate, the local prefect, told AFP that two-thirds of the exterior was gone. The fire was under control by Sunday.
In Marseille, protesters broke into city hall and covered the walls in graffiti. In Lyon, the tourist office was set on fire. A teenager in Saint-Etienne lost a hand after picking up a stun grenade, and France's police watchdog is looking into at least two dozen complaints of police violence.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said more than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were injured and called the count provisional. Paris police reported 855 arrests in the capital region alone, and prosecutors said 557 people were kept in custody, CBS News reported. One protester died of cardiorespiratory arrest just north of Paris, BFMTV reported, citing police.
Nunez and Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu blamed radical far-left groups for part of the violence and said others joined in to loot. Lecornu will chair a crisis task force on Monday and plans to meet the mayors of Paris, Marseille and Lyon, France 24 reported. Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon accused him of playing with fire. President Donald Trump also weighed in, writing on Truth Social that France was burning and blaming immigration.