France Protests: Student Loses Hand After Grenade Explodes
A 15-year-old student has lost a hand after reportedly picking up a police grenade during nationwide protests over conditions in French schools. Authorities said the teenager was injured on Monday in the northern town of Lens, while a police union source said he appeared to have picked up a sting-ball grenade fired by riot police before it exploded in his hand. The incident came as protests that have disrupted lessons at hundreds of schools since late September continued across France, with some students returning to classrooms while others maintained demonstrations outside their schools ahead of larger protests expected on Tuesday.
The protests began on September 17 at a high school in the Paris suburb of Creteil, in support of teachers striking over staff shortages and inadequate resources, before spreading across the country. Students have complained about teacher absences, overcrowded timetables, deteriorating classrooms and buildings poorly adapted to rising temperatures. More than 400 of France’s 3,700 high schools, known as lycees, were partially or completely closed on Monday, while authorities expected about a third of the 468 lycees in the Paris region to be affected. The unrest has at times involved vandalism and clashes with security forces, with 24 schools reportedly burned or ransacked and more than 5,000 people arrested, 85 percent of them minors. In Paris, students demonstrated outside schools, while in Bordeaux protesters set off fireworks towards police, who responded with tear gas. In Lille, masked protesters damaged bus shelters and set fire to rubbish bins as police used tear gas. The French Human Rights League accused security forces of using disproportionate methods against protesters, many of whom are minors, while investigations have been opened into at least three alleged cases of police brutality. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has ordered authorities to prioritise filling teacher vacancies and is due to meet regional presidents over school infrastructure. The government is also backing legislation that would make those responsible for damaging public property pay for repairs, potentially through deductions from family allowances and housing benefits. Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon defended the proposal, while CGT union leader Sophie Binet criticised it as a populist measure that could disproportionately affect vulnerable families.
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