French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, on Friday, vowed to examine “all options” to restore order after rioting across the country entered the third night, sparked by the fatal police shooting of a teenager of North African descent.
This includes declaring a state of emergency. More than two hundred police were injured and 875 people were arrested overnight, authorities said.
A total of 492 buildings were damaged, 2,000 vehicles were burned and 3,880 fires were started, according to figures given by President Emmanuel Macron at the start of a crisis meeting.
The 17-year-old’s death, at a police traffic stop caught on video, ignited unrest. Protesters are mostly poor, racially mixed, urban communities angered over incidents of police violence and allegations of systemic racism within law enforcement.
Violence also broke out in Lyon, Pau, Toulouse, Lille and the Paris suburbs.
Overnight videos on social media showed urban landscapes ablaze across the country. A tram was set alight in the eastern city of Lyon and 12 buses were gutted in a depot in Aubervilliers, northern Paris.
