A 'Yellow Vest' Protester loses fingers during ongoing protest

A 'Yellow Vest' protester loses fingers in ongoing protest in France.

  Police officers throw tear gas grenades to curb the "yellow vests" protesters, Photo credit: AFP

The latest report going round now is that a "yellow vest" protester in France had his fingers ripped off during clashes at the parliament building in Paris, as the protests move into the 13th week.

The yet to be named protester attempted to pick up a rubber pellet grenade and it exploded in his hand, French media reported.

There was also an arson attack on the home of the head of France's National Assembly, though it was not clear if the attack was linked to the protests or carried out by any group associated with the protesters.

The "yellow vest" protests began in mid-November over fuel taxes.

They have since expanded into a revolt against the President, Emmanuel Macron, and a political class seen as out of touch with common people and masses.

Based on French government figures, 51,400 people joined the protests on Saturday, 4,000 of them in Paris alone. That was down from the previous week, when official figures put the number at 58,600, 10,500 in Paris.

A section of the representatives for the yellow vests disputed the previous week's numbers, claiming the turnout was higher.

In the capital city of France, Paris on Saturday, the protesters marched from the Champs-Elysees to the city's parliament buildings, where a very violent contingent broke down barriers and threw projectiles at police. Police responded with tear gas and anti-riot munitions. The exchange of missiles went on for long hours of the day.

An eyewitness confirmed, the protester who lost his hand was a photographer attempting to take pictures of people breaking down barriers around the National Assembly building.

"When the cops went to disperse people, he got hit by a sting-ball grenade in the calf," 21-year-old Cyprien Royer told AFP news agency. "He wanted to bat it away so it didn't explode by his leg and it went off when he touched it.”

"We put him to one side and called the street medics. It wasn't pretty: he was screaming with pain, he had no fingers - he didn't have much above the wrist."

The police confirmed that a demonstrator was injured in the hand and been treated by paramedics, but did not identify the victim.

Tens of thousands of protesters turned out in other parts of France, including the port cities of Marseille and Montpellier and also in Bordeaux and Toulouse in the southwest past of the European nation.

The local police also reported that eight police officers were slightly injured during clashes with protesters in Bordeaux.






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