A protester has been killed and 47 others injured during roadblocks set up around France to demonstrate against rising fuel taxes, in a new challenge to embattled President Emmanuel Mac
Independent.ie Newsdesk Twitter Email
November 17 2018 1:53 PM
A protester has been killed and 47 others injured during roadblocks set up around France to demonstrate against rising fuel taxes, in a new challenge to embattled President Emmanuel Macron.
The protester was killed when a driver caught in traffic accelerated in a panic at Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near Chambery, said Louis Laugier, the top state official in the eastern Savoie region.
According to French media reports, the protesters reportedly knocked on her car as she tried to take her daughter to hospital. An investigation has been launched.
Police said three of the 47 injured in separate incidents are in serious condition. Officials said 24 people have been detained and 17 held for questioning.
The Interior Ministry said about 125,000 protesters were involved in 2,000 demonstrations around France.
The ministry said security forces used tear gas in several places to unblock major routes, notably at the access road to the Mont Blanc tunnel where about 30 canisters were fired.
Police at first held back protesters from advancing on Paris’s Champs-Elysees, with police vans blocking them from moving down the famed avenue, but up to 200 people were later seen walking down the street, apparently heading towards the Elysee presidential palace.
Protesters, wearing high-visibility vests and dubbing themselves the « yellow jackets », had pledged to target tollbooths, roundabouts and the bypass that rings Paris.
The fluorescent vests must be kept in the vehicles of all French drivers in case of car trouble.
The government sent in police to monitor tens of thousands of gathering points, some non-declared in advance and therefore illegal.
The taxes are part of Mr Macron’s strategy of weaning France off fossil fuels. Many drivers see them as emblematic of a presidency disconnected from day-to-day economic difficulties and serving the rich.
Press Association
Ben Mitchell Dramatic video footage has been released of a motorist who drove his car at a crowd outside a pub injuring seven people.
Mary Fitzgerald France has never styled itself as a nation of immigrants. Instead, it has emphasised assimilation over the US model of multiculturalism.
Emily Pennink A debt-ridden handyman who bludgeoned an 85-year-old widow to death with a hammer and stole her £7,000 (€7,900) diamond ring has been jailed for life.
More than 1,000 people are now on a list of those…
Japan Airlines (JAL) will introduce a new breathalyser system at airports abroad…
A search for victims of a catastrophic blaze that reduced a northern California town to ashes intensified as…
Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has been charged under seal in the US,…
Does your typical morning start with a steaming hot mug of dark roasted coffee, or…
France has never styled itself as a nation of immigrants.
To the best of my understanding, Theresa May remains…
A David Hockney painting has been sold for $90m (€79m), smashing the auction…
A US judge yesterday ordered the White House…
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a…
40-year-old Aaron Ali has been jailed for…
Michael Gove has told reporters he is not resigning from his position and is…
At least 63 people have died in a northern…
A man shot at a police officer after being…
Theresa May has said if politicians reject her Brexit…
Theresa May has said the
A wildfire all but obliterated the northern…
Police contain anti-Brexit protesters…
Prime Minister Theresa May departs 10 Downing…
Theresa May’s Brexit breakthrough has got…
