Student Protests Turn Into Looting Sprees... City Hall Reduced to Ashes

[Anchor]

Protests in France that began as high school students demanding better educational environments have expanded into demands to tackle high living costs. Some participants have committed crimes, such as setting fire to a city hall and looting luxury stores and department stores.

Paris correspondent Kwon Yeongin reports.

[Reporter]

People with their faces covered smash the glass window of a luxury brand store and rush inside.

They sweep through the store, stealing whatever they can get their hands on.

The looters even barged into department stores guarded by security personnel.

At one supermarket, employees watch helplessly as the looting unfolds.

On Saturday, October 17, protests were held in major French cities, including Paris.

Major labor unions and other groups held protests against high inflation with the aim of joining student demonstrations demanding improvements to the educational environment.

[Laura / Protest Participant: Housing costs are too expensive. And gas prices are too high as well, which is why we came out to fight like this.]

An estimated 550,000 people participated according to police estimates, and 80,000 according to organizers, but as the protests intensified, fierce clashes broke out in various places.

French authorities announced that they arrested approximately 1,800 participants on the spot and that about 150 police officers were injured.

Some protesters forcibly broke into public buildings, including media outlets and city halls, and fire damage piled up as well, with the city hall of a mid-westerly city built 143 years ago being more than two-thirds burned down.

In particular, some protesters burst into stores, department stores, and shopping centers, engaging in looting everywhere.

Foreign media reports are also emerging that they systematically looted stores after cutting CCTV cables.

French President Emmanuel Macron stated in an emergency national address that a negotiation table with protest participants will be arranged this week, while vowing stern punishment for illegal acts such as looting.

However, last weekend, protests demanding measures against high inflation and housing crises broke out not only in France but also in Italy, Belgium, and Spain, as confusion and clashes continue across various parts of Europe.

(Video Editing: Park Choon-bae, Video Source: X (formerly Twitter) '@theinformant_x', '@WarMonltor', '@Mrgunsngear')
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.