An apparently intentional fire in a high school in Aix-en-Provence, a door burned

What happened this Tuesday at dawn at the Émile Zola high school in Aix-en-Provence? The establishment located in a peripheral district of the city was set on fire, announced the department's firefighters.

The events occurred around 5:40 a.m. The intervention required the mobilization of 26 firefighters. The Bouches-du-Rhône firefighters specify that the establishment will remain closed for the day and that a door was burned. “The building is mainly impacted by smoke,” adds the same source.

Several plastic bottles were found in front of a classroom door and traces of gasoline on an exterior wall of the establishment, AFP learned from a police source.

On social networks, the UDI mayor of Aix-en-Provence, Sophie Joissains, condemned the incident. “After the violence that occurred in recent days around the high school, this new event is particularly worrying,” the councilor wrote on LinkedIn. If the intentional origin of this fire were to be confirmed, it would be an extremely serious act. »

The president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, François de Canson, announces that he will go there at midday to “take stock of the situation and discuss with the establishment’s teams”. “The few thugs who want to reign in terror must be found, arrested and severely punished. Last night, individuals entered the Émile Zola high school in Aix-en-Provence and set it on fire,” said the elected official (DVD) on X.

New day of mobilization

An inter-union group bringing together youth organizations and teachers is calling for a new day of strike and demonstrations on Tuesday, while discussions with the executive are at an impasse almost two months after the start of the high school and student protest movement.

“We are calling on all those who support the legitimate demands of youth, but also those of workers, to be in the streets,” launched Éloïse Lefebvre-Milon, co-general secretary of the Student Union, on Monday after a meeting in Matignon on the Parcoursup reform which came to an end.

The inter-union (CGT, FSU, FO, Solidaires, High School Union, Unef, Student Union, Fage and FSE) called on Saturday for a new day of mobilization this Tuesday.