A total of 136,000 anti-government protesters took part in the 'yellow vest' protests' in France on Saturday, including the 8,000 who wreaked havoc and destruction in the French capital.
The rest of the protesters took part in protests elsewhere across France.
In the southwestern French city of Toulouse, 57 people were injured, including 48 police officers.
Five of the officers injured were taken to hospital after clashes with protesters that lasted several hours. Similarly to Paris there were fires lit across many parts of the city;
Other cities in the south west, including Tarbes, Albi and Auch also saw violent scenes between protesters and police.
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Toulouse on Saturday. Photo: AFP
Meanwhile in the southern town of Puy-en-Velay 'yellow vests' broke into the courtyard of the prefecture shouting “Macron resign” and “we are at home”.
The initially calm demonstration turned into violence as the local prefecture building was firebombed and tires were dumped into the grounds of the official building by tractors.
The head of the Haute-Loire prefect, Yves Rousset, denounced the blocking of a fire truck that delayed its arrival at the site.
“Maybe the goal was to kill,” said Rousset.
In the town of Albi, the Tarn department's local government building was hit by “flammable projectiles” which did not cause any damage however there were clashes between the protesters and the police who tried to intervene.
According to the prefecture, “there was no fire or break-ins” by protesters, adding that some 2,300 people were present “at the height” of the event.
In the town of Narbonne nearly 800 people demonstrated, with a group of them attacking the official buildings belonging to local authorities, according to reports.
Meanwhile in Marseille, there was looting by protesters as several demonstrations took place throughout Saturday, with the situation descending into violence at the end of the day.
A total of 21 people were arrested, according to the police headquarters for offenses which included the looting of a phone shop and a jewelry store, as well as setting fire to a police vehicle.
At the city's Saint-Charles train station the Fnac store was vandalized and the Christmas decorations ripped off by “rioters who did not have yellow vests,” said a spokesperson for French railway operator SNCF to AFP.
Marseille on Saturday night. Photo: AFP
Later there were clashes in the Old Port area between protesters and the police who responded with tear gas.
According to the police in Marseille, the various demonstrators were made up of 300 yellow vests, 100 bikers and about 350 protesters called to action by the hard left CGT union to demand a change in government policy.
There were also a few thousand people demonstrating against insanitary housing after two apartment blocks collapsed in Marseille on November 5th, highlighting the issue of unsafe housing in the city's impoverished areas.
In the city of Dijon in eastern France, the police reported “urban guerrilla scenes”, with nine people arrested for “serious disturbances” while ten police officers and nine protesters received minor injuries.
Two of the 'yellow vest' barricades were set on fire on Saturday, not far from the prefecture in Dijon.
The situation threatened a nearby house before the fire was put out by firefighters while demonstrators also tried to set fire to the Dijon City Hall, according to reports in the French press.
Photo: AFP
In the town of Charleville-Mézières in northern France, “significant damage” has been caused by the anti-government protesters while in the southern French city of Nice, protesters managed to cause flight delays by breaking onto the airport runway.
A motorist died overnight on Saturday to Sunday after crashing a van into traffic which had built up due to a “yellow vest” demonstration in Arles, southern France, a local prosecutor said Sunday.
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