▲ The scene of protests in Paris
Burned-out vehicles, shattered shop windows, and charred iron structures and furniture scattered across the streets.
On October 18 (local time), parts of the French capital, Paris, were left in utter chaos following a massive wave of protests the previous day against soaring living costs and other grievances.
According to Reuters and other media outlets, shop windows were also smashed along the Avenue des Champs-Elysees in central Paris.
What began last month as protests by high school students demanding better educational environments in France has escalated into massive demonstrations joined by workers and others protesting skyrocketing living costs and fuel prices.
As the protests turned partly violent, damages poured in across France, with buildings set on fire and shops looted.
According to Politico Europe and other outlets, French authorities stated that more than 1,800 people were arrested during the previous day's protests, and their involvement in illegal demonstrations is currently being investigated.
In Paris, a participant who suffered cardiac arrest during the protests reportedly died.
Authorities explained that the participant died due to health issues and that the death was unrelated to clashes with protesters.
On October 17, the number of protesters across France reached an estimated 550,000 according to the French Ministry of the Interior, and 80,000 according to the major labor union General Confederation of Labour (CGT).
Citizens sympathetic to the Yellow Vest movement, which shook France for months starting in 2018 in protest against government fuel tax hikes and economic inequality, also joined the demonstrations.
Amid largely peaceful protests, deviant acts such as attacking public buildings and looting shops were also witnessed.
Reuters reported that while hundreds of thousands of people marched and protested peacefully in dozens of cities, radical protesters targeted public buildings, looted luxury stores and supermarkets, and attacked police cars and officers.
According to AFP, an Hermes store and other shops were looted in Marseille.
In Paris, a group of more than 300 protesters attempted to force their way into the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, an area dense with luxury brand boutiques.
In Bordeaux, a masked crowd broke into the official residence of the local prefect, while a 143-year-old city hall building was burned down in Limoges.
French retailer Carrefour stated that 50 of its stores suffered damage, with 20 of them being looted.
It is estimated that about 1,500 French retail stores suffered hundreds of millions of euros in damages from the previous day's protests.
Reuters reported that "the massive protests in France have escalated into the worst civil unrest in years," pushing the demonstrations "beyond control."
Tije de Boer, a Dutch entrepreneur visiting Paris, told AFP, "It is like a war zone here."
In an article titled "'Never seen anything like it': mass looting grips Paris," AFP reported that on October 17, looters smashed store windows and swept up goods, flocking to stores across Paris without facing any intervention from authorities.
AFP also reported that restaurants, hotels, and residential buildings largely escaped damage, creating a surreal scene where Parisian citizens enjoyed Saturday lunch with friends as usual while crowds created chaos outside.
An art teacher who identified herself as Alma, 38, told AFP, "I have never seen anything like this."
AFP reported that Alma and her colleagues, who joined the march heading toward the Elysee Palace, the presidential residence, said they understood the revolt.
A 29-year-old civil servant told AFP that while she agreed with the right to protest, the looters were "undermining their own cause."
Leading French presidential hopefuls engaged in a war of words, capitalizing on the public opinion divided by the protests to attack rival camps.
The presidential election to choose a successor to French President Emmanuel Macron will be held six months from now.
Marine Le Pen, a lawmaker from the far-right National Rally (RN) and the front-runner in opinion polls among potential candidates, criticized that "legitimate social demands have once again been hijacked by the far-left."
She accused Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party and a presidential contender, of inciting the unrest.
Melenchon claimed on social media that the media was only showing scenes of violent clashes, asserting that "everything is proceeding peacefully and tens of thousands of people are participating in the protests calmly."
He pointed out that police were engaging in unnecessary excessive force, such as using pepper spray and tear gas.
Le Pen and Melenchon have been cited in multiple recent polls as strong contenders likely to advance to the presidential runoff.
President Macron stated, "There is no place for violence in our republic," adding, "We will stand united together against those who seek to sow chaos and obstruct those who wish to express their demands peacefully."
According to AFP, Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst at the think tank Eurasia Group, wrote on the social media platform X that "the vast majority of actual protests" protesting high fuel prices and poor educational conditions "were peaceful."
He added, "The violence came from a faction of the far left. The looting was done by opportunistic crowds from impoverished suburban areas," noting that "all of this is good news for Marine Le Pen."
The protests in France appear to be spreading to neighboring countries such as Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal.
The previous day, protests protesting rising living costs and other issues were held in major Italian cities including Rome, Milan, Turin, and Bologna, as well as in Lisbon, Portugal.
In Belgium, protests by high school students protesting poor educational environments have also continued for days, centered around Liege, a major French-speaking city in the eastern part of the country.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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