Marseille hit by worst violence

France's second city saw some of the worst violence as chaos gripped the country on Saturday. Local business leaders say more than 500 premises were damaged, and the majority looted.

118 police officers injured

A police union boss told the BBC that the weekend had been an apocalyptic hell for his colleagues. 118 officers were injured, representing more than a tenth of the national figure.

“apocalyptic”

101 arrests made in Marseille

So far, 101 arrests have been made in the port city, a quarter of them children. By Monday, police were most conspicuous on the city's streets, not protesters.

Curfew and gathering bans imposed

For eight hours on Monday, demonstrations and gatherings were banned in an effort to avoid a third consecutive day of disorder.

Student describes fear and conflict

18-year-old student Maryame said violence engulfed the student demonstration as looters attacked shops. She called the earlier march beautiful but the disorder terrifying, yet questioned whether more violence might force government action.

“Sometimes it goes too far.”

Police describe unprecedented chaos

Arnaud Blaise from the UN1TE police union said Black Bloc agitators provoked disorder that young people from deprived northern suburbs exploited for looting. Police fired four thousand tear gas grenades before running out of ammunition.

“It was a war. An unheard-of level of violence. Unprecedented.”

Mayor demands radical change

Marseille's Socialist Mayor Benoît Payan met Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez on Monday evening. Payan said under-staffed and poorly deployed police needed to change tactics or looting scenes would happen again.

“Order was lost, and an attempt was made to restore order. I believe that from start to finish, it was a fiasco.”

Residents fear for lost generation

79-year-old grandmother Chantal Bellanger said she was worried for young people rioting out of anger and despair. She blamed abandoned peripheral neighbourhoods, failing public services and poverty for criminalising a whole generation.

“To see children whose actions are going to place them completely outside of society. It's painful to watch.”

More demonstrations planned

While the ban on public gatherings and partial overnight curfews have brought temporary calm to Marseille and other French cities, more demonstrations are planned for the weekend.