UP IN FLAMES
France protests: Shocking moment town hall engulfed in flames in Bordeaux as pension fury spreads
SHOCKING footage shows the town hall in Bordeaux engulfed in flames as pension protests spread across France.
A dramatic video shows the moment the building went up in flames while hundreds of rioters are chanting as the nationwide protests continue for the ninth day.
5
5
5
5
5
Earlier this week, rioters torched the town hall in the city of Lyon after furious protests erupted over President Emmanuel Macron's controversial plan to raise the country's pension age from 62 to 64.
Protests took place on Thursday in several French cities including Paris where rioters clashed with police who fired teargas and charged the crowds with batons.
Crowds were angered even further after the French President insisted the government's bill to raise the retirement age must be implemented by the end of the year in an interview on Wednesday.
Some protesters lit fires in the street, setting ablaze pallets and piles of uncollected rubbish.
read more on world news
Protesters blockaded train stations, the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, refineries and ports as over 250 protests were planned across the country.
Police had also fired tear gas at some protesters in several other cities, including Nantes and Bordeaux in the west, and used water cannons against others in Rennes in the northwest.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that, across France, 123 members of the security forces had been injured and at least 80 people arrested.
The protests have sparked fears over King Charles' state visit to France next week with striking workers refusing to provide red carpets and uncollected rubbish piling up in Paris streets.
Most read in The Sun
A banquet that was planned for King Charles and Macron at the Palace of Versailles is likely to be moved to a different location amid fears of violence.
King Charles is due to arrive Sunday for his first foreign state visit as monarch, with a trip scheduled on Tuesday to the southwestern city of Bordeaux.
Unions have announced fresh strikes and protests for Tuesday, the second full day of his visit.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the violence seen during Thursday's nationwide protests against the government's pension reform was "unacceptable", as tensions ran high in several French cities.
She said on Twitter: "It is a right to demonstrate and make your disagreements known.
"The violence and destruction that we have seen today are unacceptable."
Topics