Britons have been warned against travelling to hotspots of violence in France as riots threatened to escalate out of control.
Newly updated Foreign Office advice warns holidaymakers to “avoid areas where riots are taking place” as the situation becomes “unpredictable”.
A total shutdown of public bus and tram services was ordered nationwide on Friday night after shops were looted and several city centres were ablaze from protesters setting light to cars and buildings.
President Emmanuel Macron urged parents to keep teenagers at home, saying his government was considering “all options” to restore order.
More than 200 police have been injured in the unrest, which was sparked by the fatal police shooting of a teenager.
Protesters clash with riot police in Marseille
(AFP via Getty Images)
Some areas were facing curfews. By Friday, 875 suspects had been arrested as authorities struggled to quell the clashes.
Violence flared in Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Lille, as well as in Paris, where a 17-year-old driver of Algerian and Moroccan descent, identified only as Nahel M, was shot dead in the suburb of Nanterre.
A dozen buses were gutted by a blaze at a depot in Aubervilliers, northern Paris, and a tram was set alight in Lyon.
In Nanterre itself, protesters torched cars, barricaded streets and hurled projectiles at police. Shops, including an Apple store, were ransacked in Strasbourg, while several Casino supermarkets were looted.
A burning car in Nanterre
(EPA)
The interior ministry said 79 police posts were attacked overnight into Friday, as well as 119 public buildings, including 34 town halls and 28 schools.
Concerts by French singer Mylene Farmer were cancelled at the Stade de France.
In the Chatelet Les Halles shopping centre in central Paris, a Nike store was broken into, and several people were arrested after store windows were smashed in the adjacent Rue de Rivoli, police said.
The energy minister said several staff of a power distribution firm were injured by stones thrown during clashes.
Police try to quell violence in Nanterre
(EPA)
Nanterre shopkeeper Pascal Matieus said: “It’s become completely out of control. The police have lost control.”
British holidaymakers who are already in France or planning to travel there over the weekend have become increasingly worried. The Independent…
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