French demonstrators protesting rising oil prices by shutting down roads have been stuck by cars today (Nov. 17) all over the country, injuring dozens and killing one.
Estimates suggest 120,000 protestors have assembled in 2,000 locations across France, according to the BBC. Protestors wore the yellow vests required by French law to be kept in the car in case of a vehicle failure.
Parisian police arrested 24 protestors and shot tear gas into the crowds, leaving 47 people injured in the violent clashes, Al Jazeera reports.
Frustrated motorists have resorted to plowing through the human blockades. One protestor in the Savoy region died after being hit by the car of a mother taking her daughter to the hospital, the BBC reports. The vehicle had reportedly been surrounded by about 50 demonstrators, who were hitting its roof when the mother panicked and accelerated.
Elsewhere in the country, protestors have been injured as drivers have forced their way through lines of protestors, running over feet and in one case striking a police officer.
In southern France, one motorist was arrested after firing a gun in the air to disperse the protestors.
The protest comes as president Emmanuel Macron’s popularity wanes to 21% (link in French). His administration’s new taxes on diesel have contributed to prices rising more than 20% over the past year.