BOBIGNY, France (Reuters) – Rioters shot at police and fire fighter crews in the worst night of a week of violence in poor suburbs that ring Paris, as France’s conservative government struggled to quell the unrest.
Youths who rampaged on Wednesday night left a trail of burnt cars, buses and shops in nine suburbs north and east of Paris, home to North African and black African minorities frustrated at their failure to get jobs or recognition in French society.
“It’s a dramatic situation. It is very serious and we fear that the events could even get worse tonight,” said Francis Masanet, secretary general of the UNSA police trade union.
Rioters torched 177 vehicles and attacked a primary school and shopping centre, local officials said. Four police officers and two firefighters were hurt, including one with facial burns from a Molotov cocktail.
Prefect Jean-Francois Cordet, the government’s top official in the Seine-Saint-Denis region, confirmed shots had been fired at police and fire crews in three separate incidents.