Protesters paralyze train movement in France, 200 people arrested

About 200 people have already been arrested at protests in France.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to foreign media, this was announced by the outgoing Minister of Internal Affairs of the country, Bruno Retailleau.

***

In southwestern France, intercity train traffic was paralyzed after protest actions held under the slogan "Block everything!". Demonstrators set fire to power cables, which disabled the semaphore system.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to La Depeche, the incident occurred on the line between Toulouse and Auch, resulting in disruption of TER commuter train services. The fire was quickly extinguished, but train traffic will not resume until 05:00 (07:00 Baku time) on September 10.

The unrest affected other regions as well. In New Aquitaine, cable damage disrupted communication between Toulouse and Bordeaux. In Lyon, police prevented demonstrators from entering the Perrache station by using tear gas. Attempts to block the Part-Dieu station are also expected. According to Le Figaro, about 200-300 protesters tried to block the Gallieni bridge on the A7 highway, where gas also had to be used.

According to the BFMTV channel, the number of detained participants in the actions exceeded 100 people, of which 95 were in Paris and its suburbs. In total, about 80 actions were recorded in the country, in which about 3,000 people took part.

Recall that the first calls for "blocking the country" appeared in the spring, but they became widespread after the July statement by Prime Minister François Bayrou about austerity measures and reducing the number of holiday days to replenish the budget by 44 billion euros.

The French Ministry of Internal Affairs expects up to 100,000 protest participants across the country. 80,000 police officers and gendarmes have been deployed to maintain order. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau ordered to strictly suppress any disorders and detain violators to the maximum extent.