Marseille braces for more unrest after protests give way to 'apocalyptic' disorder

Figure caption, Watch: Clean up begins after some of the worst disorder in France's modern history, but police remain.

1. Very upsetting': Residents in shock after historic French town hall set alightPublished1 day ago.
2. Watch: Shops looted and restaurants gutted in Paris riots.

Katya Adler: Governo da França sob pressão após fim de semana de violência generalizada Publicado há 1 dia.

Suspeito preso após incêndio em prefeitura histórica - mídia francesa.

Thunder and lightning have boomed across Marseille following the weekend's mayhem, illuminating the cracked windows and boarded-up doors of hundreds of businesses that were smashed as protests gave way to disorder.

France's second city saw some of the worst violence as chaos gripped the country on Saturday. Local business leaders say more than 500 premises were damaged, and the majority looted.

Um chefe de sindicato policial disse à BBC que o fim de semana foi um inferno “apocalíptico” para seus colegas. 118 policiais ficaram feridos, representando mais de um décimo do total nacional.

Até agora, 101 prisões foram realizadas na cidade portuária, um quarto delas são crianças.

But by Monday, it was police who were most conspicuous on the city's streets, not protesters. For eight hours, demonstrations and gatherings were banned in an effort to avoid a third consecutive day of disorder.

It seemed to work; the largest central gathering we witnessed was a posse of weather-beaten tourists trudging around the quayside.

No entanto, um toque de recolher noturno para menores entrará em vigor em partes da cidade a partir da noite de terça-feira. Um toque de recolher noturno em partes de Paris, que entrou em vigor na segunda-feira, também foi estendido.

Marseille is one of France's most ethnically diverse cities – a place where generations of new arrivals have landed.

18-year-old student Maryame only arrived in the southern city a few weeks ago, albeit from the countryside not too far away.

Foi muito assustador porque é a minha primeira vez em uma grande cidade, e também a minha primeira vez demonstrando," ela disse.

Image caption, Maryam (R) joined the protests on Saturday, which began in September over poor school conditions before escalating to cover broader issues such as the cost of living.

Maryame said violence engulfed the student demonstration her friends had joined as looters began attacking shops.

Ela disse que a solidariedade da marcha anterior foi “beautiful” e a desordem subsequente “terrifying”, mas continuou dizendo que estava em conflito quanto a se ainda mais violência faria o governo se levantar e ouvir.

It is a very complicated question if violence is legitimate," she began.

But the thing is, France, our history is really based on revolution, and sometimes we really have to make a really big impact.

For the police, the extent to which order disintegrated was a shock, according to one organisation representing rank and file officers.

It was a war," said Arnaud Blaise from the UN1TE police union. "An unheard-of level of violence. Unprecedented.

Surgiram relatos de saque em todo o centro da cidade, incluindo ao longo da La Canebière – equivalente de Marseille ao Champs-Élysées de Paris – Rue Paradis, e no centro comercial Centre Bourse.

Businesses were also hit further afield, such as in the Grand Littoral and Le Merlan shopping malls to the north.

Image caption, Hundreds of businesses were looted in several locations across the city.

Blaise disse que estava preocupado com a possibilidade de futuras manifestações seguirem o mesmo padrão destrutivo de sábado, com jovens dos subúrbios do norte desfavorecidos aproveitando a oportunidade para furtar em meio ao caos que, em sua visão, foi provocado por agitadores de extrema esquerda – conhecidos na França como Black Bloc.

The Black Blocs provoked, and the youngsters took advantage to start looting," Blaise said. "That created chaos, with police officers running right, running left, and in effect, we got overwhelmed.

I put it to Blaise that the police had been accused of heavy-handedness with peaceful students but sitting back as the most violent protesters pillaged local businesses.

That is not the case at all," he replied, arguing that more police than students had been injured.

Quatro mil granadas de gás lacrimogêneo foram disparadas e, em seguida, acabamos com a munição. Assim, em determinado momento, não havia escolha a não ser recuar.

France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez - whose resignation in the wake of the riots was rejected by President Macron - travelled to Marseille on Monday evening.

Ele chegou à Prefeitura, que foi ocupada brevemente por manifestantes no sábado, e encontrou o prefeito socialista de Marselha, Benoît Payan.

Payan said he wanted answers from the government as to how the chaos was allowed to happen.

Order was lost, and an attempt was made to restore order. I believe that from start to finish, it was a fiasco," he said on Monday.

Ele disse que a polícia, com pessoal insuficiente e mal distribuído, precisava mudar suas táticas.

If there isn't a radical change of approach on this issue - if, by chance, the only target remains high school students - then we will see looting scenes again.

Ele continuou: "Não sei o que ainda resta para saquear em Marselha, mas o pouco que sobrar será saqueado.

Image caption, Chantal Bellanger said she was worried for young people rioting out of anger and despair.

Enquanto a proibição de encontros públicos em Marseille e os toques de recolher noturnos parciais em outras cidades francesas trouxeram algum alívio temporário, mais manifestações estão previstas para o fim de semana.

At a smashed out tram stop, 79-year-old grandmother Chantal Bellanger said she had been "worried - but then, I've been worried for a long time.

We can clearly see that France has lost its grip on many things. Public services, hospitals, education is in a horrible state, the peripheral neighbourhoods are dilapidated, they are abandoned.

She said she used to work in these deprived northern suburbs, where poverty and crime rates are very high, and feared a whole lost generation was criminalising itself through anger and despair.

Isso mexe com suas cordas do coração," ela disse.

To see children whose actions are going to place them completely outside of society. It's painful to watch.

Cobertura adicional por Paul Pradier e Pol Reygaerts.