One dead, hundreds hurt in fuel protests

ONE WOMAN was killed and at least 226 people were injured, seven of them seriously, during protests against high fuel prices in France on Saturday.

Some 117 people were arrested, with 73 of them in police custody, the French Interior Ministry said.

In total, around 283 000 people participated in 2000 events across the country.

The woman, a protester, died when another woman driving a car panicked when she encountered a roadblock in the town of Pont-de-Beauvoisin, to the north of the city of Grenoble, in south-eastern France, and ran her over.

Some of the around 40 participants in the roadblock were drumming on the woman’s car, according to a local official. The driver was in police custody.

In Arras, in the north of the country, a male demonstrator was run over and taken to hospital with serious injuries.

France was expecting a country-wide wave of protests against rising petrol and diesel prices, and government plans to further hike the tax on vehicle fuel.

A movement on social media – apparently without any central leadership – had called for protesters wearing yellow high-visibility jackets to take to the streets.

Some of the hundreds of social media events called for roadblocks, while “snail operations” – where protesters intentionally drive slowly across multiple lanes on highways – were also expected.