A woman died and more than 400 people were hurt in a day and night of ‘yellow vest’ protests over rising fuel price hikes across France.
The 409 injured, 14 of them seriously, included 28 police, paramilitary police or firefighters.
The injury toll followed what Interior Minister Christophe Castaner described as a ‘restive’ night in 87 locations around the country where protesters had blocked roads to express their anger at a series of hikes in petrol tax.
A 63-year-old protester was killed when a woman trying to get her daughter to a doctor panicked after protesters surrounded her car and banged on the roof.
A man gestures in front of gendarmes in Caen, northwestern France, on a second day of action after a nationwide popular initiated day of protest against high fuel prices
Protesters block Caen’s circular road on November 18, 2018 in Caen, Normandy, on a second day of ‘Yellow Vest’ protests
The ‘Yellow Vest’ movement against high fuel prices has mushroomed into a widespread protest against stagnant spending power under French President Emmanuel Macron
She accelerated into the crowd and killed the woman at Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near Chambery in the eastern Savoie region.
The driver was on Sunday charged with manslaughter before being released on conditional bail, prosecutors said.
Some incidents occurred as drivers not taking part tried to get around the blockades, police sources said.
There were more protests Sunday in several regions across France, leading to traffic disruptions, but their intensity seemed to be diminishing.
But French retail group Auchan reported violent incidents at around 20 shopping centres where it operates hypermarkets.
Castaner told RTL radio that 288,000 people had taken part in Saturday’s protests at 2,034 locations countrywide. About 3,500 stayed out overnight, he added.
Police questioned 282 protesters in total, 73 during the night, of whom 157 were taken into custody.
A man holds a flare at a tollgate on a highway in Dozule, northwestern France, as demonstrators block the traffic during a protest against the rising of the fuel and oil prices
A policeman evacuates a demonstrator in Quimper, western France, during a nationwide popular initiated day of protest on Saturday
Protesters run through tear gas during the nationwide initiated day of protest. The demonstrators, part of a grassroots movement dubbed the ‘yellow vests’ were rallying against railed against fuel tax hikes
A demonstrator throws a projectile on the streets on November 17 as police stand guard with shields. French Interior Ministry officials estimated at midday that about 244,000 protesters were involved in some 2,000 demonstrations around the country
CRS riot police disperse protesters with tear gas as they try to demonstrate near the French Presidential Elysee palace in Paris
‘Last night was restive… There were assaults, fights, stabbings,’ Castaner said. ‘There were fights among ‘yellow vest’ protesters. There was a lot of alcohol at certain venues, which led to this idiotic behaviour.’
Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin said Sunday the government was aware of unhappiness over high fuel taxes, but said it had ‘a duty’ to transform the French economy with the aim of making it less oil-dependent.
A poll published Sunday in the Journal de Dimanche weekly said that 62 percent of those questioned believed their purchasing power was more important than a fast transition towards renewable energy.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was to appear on national TV Sunday evening to discuss the protests.
On Saturday, groups blocked roundabouts, major highways and thoroughfares to express anger over increased taxes on fuel and their shrinking purchasing power under President Emmanuel Macron.
Tempers flared at times as some drivers confronted the protesters or tried to force their way through the barricades.
Demonstrators wearing yellow vests (gilets jaunes) block the traffic n Dozule, northwestern France, during a protest against the rising of the fuel and oil prices today
Protesters take part in a road blockade action by letting off flares in Ajaccio on the French Mediterranean Island of Corsica, during a nationwide day of protest
Some 50,000 demonstrators, many accusing Macron of being out of touch with ordinary people, blocked roads across France on Saturday in a grassroots campaign dubbed the ‘Yellow Vests’ for their high-visibility jackets that drew nearly 288,000 protesters.
The protests, largely orchestrated on social media and which aimed to prevent road access to some fuel depots and airports, have also drawn support from some voters dissatisfied with Macron’s economic reforms and his governing style.
Some protesters scrawled messages such as ‘Macron tu es en voleur’, or ‘Macron you are a thief’ on vehicles and banners.
Protesters gathered at sensitive flashpoints including the entry to a tunnel under the Mont-Blanc mountain in the Alps, and traffic was backed up on several highways.
A demonstrator on the ring road of Rennes, western France, wearing yellow vest stands close to a van on which is written ‘Macron, you’re a thief’ during a protest against the rising of the fuel and oil prices today
Demonstrators were also on the march in cities, including Marseille where around 100 people, wearing the high visibility vests drivers keep in their cars, blocked roads around its port.
Police officers lobbed tear gas canisters at demonstrators on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Saturday as groups tried to make their way to the presidential Elysee Palace.
Later, hundreds of protesters entered the bottom of the street, which is dotted with luxury shops and the palace – home to Macron.
They were seen on BFMTV talking with riot police when the officers suddenly raised their shields and pushed the group back.
French Interior Ministry officials estimated at midday that about 244,000 protesters were involved in some 2,000 demonstrations around the country, many of them spontaneous.
Macron’s popularity took a further hit in recent weeks, according to a poll on Sunday, as fuel tax protests rumbled on across France in the latest sign of discontent with the president’s economic reforms.
Only 25 percent of those questioned in an Ifop poll between November 9 and 17 said they were satisfied with Macron, down from 29 percent in October, according to the survey of almost 2,000 people published in the Journal du Dimanche (JDD).
Traffic was blocked during the protest against the rising of the fuel and oil prices on the A2 road in Haulchien near Valenciennes, northern France
Protesters wearing yellow vests, a symbol of a French drivers’ protest against higher fuel prices, gather near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
Macron, who came to power 18 months ago vowing to reshape the economy and overhaul institutions, has brushed off slumping ratings to push through a series of reforms, including a loosening of laws governing hiring and firing.
Macron’s popularity has sunk to as low as 21 percent in other polls recently, after a torrid summer marked by a scandal over the violent conduct of the president’s former security adviser and the departure of several ministers.
His government introduced fuel tax hikes to encourage drivers to embrace less-polluting cars, touching a nerve with voters in rural areas in particular as the extra cost began to bite in October when global oil prices surged.
The backlash is the latest confrontation between Macron and voters, mostly based in the countryside and provincial towns and cities, who view the former investment banker as the representative of a remote urban elite.
During his 18 months in power, Macron, 40, has often pushed through reforms, including an overhaul of indebted state rail operator SNCF, in the face of opposition from labour unions.
Protesters gather as they try to block roads and cause traffic chaos as part of a nationwide protest, in Antibes, southern France
During a demonstration on the Champs Elysee in Paris bikers and marchers on foot let off flares and blocked traffic
A man wearing a traffic cone costume symbolising a petrol pump, painted high-visibility yellow on Place de la Bastille
A protester waved French flag as he walked on the rocade ring road in Bordeaux, southwestern France
French CRS police secure a position as a man wearing a yellow vest, a symbol of a French drivers’ protest against higher fuel prices, lays on the road in Antibes, France
But the ‘yellow vest’ movement has snowballed swiftly over the past month, catching Macron and even opposition parties off guard. It has already prompted a rare concession from the government, which announced last Wednesday fresh funds to help motorists on the lowest incomes.
The higher fuel taxes were approved in late 2017 but started to bite as oil prices surged in October, even though they have since eased off somewhat.
The diesel tax increases are designed to encourage drivers to switch to more environmentally-friendly cars.
Environment Minister Francois de Rugy said the government, which last week sought to placate motorists with subsidies for the worst off, would not back down on its fuel tax plans. These are set for another hike in January including on diesel, the most commonly used fuel in France.
‘I would prefer to announce tax cuts but we need levers to fight climate change,’ he told Europe 1 radio and CNews television in a joint interview on Sunday.
Demonstrators block a motorway exit to protest fuel taxes in Marseille, southern France. Some 50,000 demonstrators gathered in 1,500 locations across the country
Thousands of drivers blocked roads across France and stood on bridges, as they did here in Toulouse, southern France
Thousands of drivers blocked roads across France today against President Emmanuel Macron’s planned higher fuel taxes