By Sybille de La Hamaide
PARIS, Oct 18 (Reuters) – France woke on Sunday to the wreckage of one of its most violent days of unrest in years after protests over high prices and public services left one demonstrator dead, hundreds of police injured and nearly 1,800 people arrested.
Nationwide demonstrations erupted into riots on Saturday, with a town hall torched, shops ransacked, and buildings covered in graffiti as violent groups clashed with police in cities across the country.
One protester died after suffering a cardiac arrest during demonstrations in Paris, where police made a record 855 arrests. Across France, police detained some 1,800 people and more than 500 officers were injured, the interior minister said.
More than half a million people joined marches in scores of cities, marking the convergence of a month-long student movement with broader social discontent against rising living costs and declining public services.
While hundreds of thousands protested peacefully, violent fringe groups targeted public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets and attacked police vehicles and officers.
“No room for violence in our Republic,” President Emmanuel Macron posted on X as the unrest unfolded late on Saturday. “Those who have ransacked, attacked the prefectures as well as businesses, looted even our town halls, will be prosecuted and punished.”
A massive clean-up operation began in cities from Lille in the north to Marseille in the south and Strasbourg in the east to Bordeaux in the southwest, where a masked mob invaded the residence of the local prefect.
In Paris, smashed shop windows, burnt-out bicycles and spray-painted slogans bore witness to a day that began largely with peaceful demonstrations but descended into violence.
In Limoges, workers assessed the damage to the 143-year-old city hall, which was partially destroyed in an arson attack.
The unrest has increased pressure on Macron and his government. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the government would not be “intimidated” by violence, and blamed the unrest on the “ultra-left” and criminals, with a presidential election due next year.
Economy Minister Roland Lescure pledged support for business owners who suffered losses. “Those who break things will pay, repair the damage and be held accountable for their intention to sow chaos,” Lescure said in a statement.
Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said up to 100 stores had been looted in his city, while Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan announced emergency financial aid to support those businesses impacted by the violence.
The protests began last month over school conditions and teacher shortages in working-class suburbs, before broadening into a movement against inequality, public spending cuts and the rising cost of living.
(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; editing by Richard Lough and Elaine Hardcastle)
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