Newsletter Newsletters Events Events Podcasts Videos Africanews
Loader
Rioters set fire to a bank and ransack luxury shops in central Paris

Video. Rioters set fire to a bank and ransack luxury shops in central Paris

Updated:

Police fired tear gas and water cannons as the yellw vest protests turned violent again after weeks of relative calm and declining numbers of participants.

A Banque Tarneaud branch spewed flames before firefighters arrived and rescued two people from the building, with eleven suffering minor injuries, the fire department said.

Rioters also set fire to an upmarket handbag store and two news-stands on the Champs Elysees avenue while scattered bonfires burned on the iconic thoroughfare.

Protesters lobbed cobblestones at riot police through clouds of tear gas in front of Paris' Arc de Triomphe monument, which was ransacked at the peak of the protests in December.

Police had arrested more than 150 protesters by late afternoon as demonstrators looted stores around the Champs Elysees and ransacked the high-end Fouquet's restaurant.

The canvas awning was later set on fire of the swanky brasserie, known in France as the place where conservative Nicolas Sarkozy celebrated his presidential election victory in 2007.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT