French police arrest at least 1,800 after protests turn violent

Police arrested at least 1,800 people across France after clashes, fires and looting accompanied nationwide protests Saturday over rising living costs and poor school conditions, according to The Korea Times. The arrests included 855 people in the Paris capital region.

The unrest damaged public buildings in several cities and left more than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters injured, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. President Emmanuel Macron's office said he would convene an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon and address the nation that evening.

Authorities put nationwide turnout at about 550,000, while organizers estimated about 800,000, The Korea Times reported. Demonstrators protested the cost of living and conditions in schools.

Authorities said masked groups started fires, targeted public buildings and looted shops. Paris police described unauthorized marches in the city center, followed later by people who sought to exploit the disorder to steal.

Nuñez and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu attributed some of the violence to radical far-left groups, according to the report. They said others subsequently joined the unrest to loot.

In Limoges, a fire brought down the roof of the city's 19th-century City Hall. Haute-Vienne prefect Maurice Barate said the blaze was deliberately set and nearly destroyed the building. The fire was under control Sunday, The Korea Times reported.

Some protesters in Marseille briefly entered the City Hall lobby, while hooded and masked people damaged a police station. A fire also broke out inside a tourist office in Lyon, according to the report.

Paris police reported that one person died of a heart attack. The Paris prosecutors' office said it was investigating the death.

The mayors of Paris, Marseille and Lyon requested a meeting with the prime minister, according to The Korea Times. Macron's office scheduled his Sunday address for 8 p.m.