A suspect linked to a far-left movement has been arrested in France after a 19th Century city hall was gutted by a fire over the weekend that broke out during mass disorder, French media reports.
The clock tower and parts of the roof of the ornate city hall in the central city of Limoges were engulfed in flames before collapsing on Saturday.
The 34-year-old suspect is known to police for acts of violence against public officials and is on the “S” list, a French national security watchlist, FranceInfo and BFMTV reported.
Meanwhile in Marseille, a curfew for young people will be introduced on Tuesday evening.
The city’s mayor Benoît Payan said that the prefect had decided to introduce the curfew in Marseille “starting this evening and for days to come”.
He said the measures apply to minors and will only be in commercial areas of the city, which were particularly affected by looting which took place last weekend.
French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin told BFM Television that 149 people were in detention following widespread demonstrations over the weekend.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to protest against rising fuel prices, the cost of living and deteriorating public services, including schools.
Darmanin previously said he asked prosecutors to be “extremely firm” and “ruthless towards those who attacked police officers, gendarmes and firefighters, who looted shops and who attacked public buildings”.
The justice minister insisted France did not need to be put into a state of emergency which would “deprive all French people of their individual freedoms”.
But French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu earlier said he had not ruled out imposing a state of emergency.
