France: Historic Limoges town hall in flames

The 143-year-old town hall in the French city of Limoges went up in flames and largely burned down during the riots of the nationwide mass protests. It was a “deliberate act by rioters,” said the responsible prefect, Maurice Barate, to the AFP news agency on Saturday evening. According to eyewitnesses, masked demonstrators broke into the city's town hall to set fire. The striking building is “largely lost.”

"The roof collapsed onto the floors below - except for the west wing," Barate said. "Two-thirds of the facade has already disappeared." The fire is a "catastrophe for the cultural heritage" of the region and France as a whole.

The town hall was completed in 1883. During the Second World War, the building temporarily became the home of exiled Belgian politicians. The town hall was also an important center of resistance activity in the southern region of the country against the German occupation.

On the sidelines of the demonstrations, there was violence and clashes between participants and the police in many places. In several cities, buildings were on fire, town halls were damaged, shops were looted, and clouds of tear gas were in the air. In Paris, where, according to the Interior Ministry, 110,000 people took part in the protests, entire streets were "methodically vandalized," according to Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire. According to the Interior Ministry, around 400 people were arrested across the country.