Photos: Protests across France spiral into looting, blazes and clashes

France woke up on Sunday to streets scarred by burned cars, smashed shopfronts and looted businesses after cost-of-living protests spiralled into some of the worst unrest in years.

What began as largely peaceful marches on Saturday over soaring prices and falling living standards quickly escalated, with masked youths torching vehicles, ransacking shops and attacking public buildings in cities including Paris, Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux, Lille and Strasbourg.

Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said “whole streets have been devastated” as police used tear gas and water cannon against protesters who hurled projectiles and set off fireworks. Authorities reported about 1,200 arrests and 150 injured police officers. It was “a miracle the toll isn’t higher,” Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said.

Town halls in Limoges, Marseille and Lille were targeted, while a police compound in Bordeaux and a tourist office in Lyon were vandalised. In Saint-Etienne, a 17-year-old lost his right hand after being hit by a crowd-control grenade.

The unrest follows weeks of student protests to demand more investment in education and comes six months before the presidential election. Far-right and left-wing contenders traded blame over the violence, even as President Emmanuel Macron promised that those responsible for looting and attacks on public buildings “will be prosecuted and punished”.