15-Year-Old Arrested After Fire Attack During Marseille Student Protest
Police in Marseille detained a teenage boy captured on video spraying a makeshift flamethrower at a woman during nationwide student demonstrations over school conditions.
Police in Marseille arrested a 15-year-old boy after video footage showed him directing a makeshift flamethrower, created from an aerosol can and lighter, at a woman standing at a bus stop. The woman sustained first-degree facial burns and received on-scene medical treatment, according to local reports.
The incident occurred on Friday amid nationwide student protests demanding improvements to school facilities, classroom temperatures and staffing levels. Education Minister Edourd Geffray described the movement as initially legitimate but said it had been taken over by extremist groups. He added that the protests have escalated, with high-school students setting fires outside schools.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told French television that more than 5,000 people have been arrested since the protests began, most of them high-school minors. The Ministry of National Education announced that at least 400 of the country's 3,700 high schools would be fully or partially closed on Monday in response to the unrest.