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The police form a cordon around protesters dressed in high-visibility yellow vests, which became a symbol of the French citizens' protest against the rise in the price of petrol, on the Place de la Bastille on Saturday in Paris. (Ian Langsdon / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock)
PARIS – A protester was killed and 47 others injured at roadblocks set up around France to protest against rising taxes on gasoline, a new challenge to President Emmanuel Macron.
The protester was killed when a driver caught in a traffic jam panicked in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near Chambery, said Louis Laugier, prefect or highest official of the State of Savoy Eastern. According to various French media, the protesters reportedly hit her car while she was trying to take her daughter to the hospital. An investigation has been opened.
Police said three of the 47 wounded in separate incidents during the protests are in serious condition, according to the ministry. According to officials, 24 people were arrested and 17 for questioning.
The Interior Ministry said that about 125,000 protesters had participated in about 2,000 demonstrations in France.
The Interior Ministry said the security forces had used tear gas in several places to unblock important roads, including on the access road to the Mont Blanc tunnel, where some thirty cans had been fired.
The police initially prevented the protesters from advancing on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, with police vans preventing them from moving around the famous avenue. But more than 200 people were then seen walking down the street, apparently heading for the presidential palace of the Elysee.
Protesters, dressed in yellow lifejackets and calling themselves "yellow jackets", were pledged to target the toll booths, roundabouts and bypass of Paris. The fluorescent yellow vests put by the demonstrators must be kept in the vehicles of all the French drivers in case of problem.
The government has sent police to monitor tens of thousands of assembly points, some of which are not reported in advance and therefore illegal.
Taxes are part of Macron's strategy to reduce France's fossil fuel consumption. Many drivers view them as emblematic of a presidency that they view as disconnected from everyday economic hardships and serving the wealthy. However, protesters and their supporters have expressed anger over other issues, including diminishing purchasing power.
Robert Tichit, 67, retired, described the president as "King Macron".
"We have enough. There is too much tax in this country, "he told The Associated Press.
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