A protest in La Rochelle in western France against the construction of reservoirs has escalated in some places into clashes with the police; law enforcement officers are using tear gas against the demonstrators.
⠀
“Clashes began between law enforcement forces and the demonstrators… the demonstrators split into several processions. The police attacked them and used tear gas,” the local media report.
⠀
Protesters head towards the port of La Rochelle to block it. Some are trying to get to its territory by swimming, activists of the Bassines Non Merci movement report on the X social network.
⠀
The prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department warns of a procession in which several hundred radicals are participating. According to the TV channel, the total number of demonstrators is 3,500 people.
⠀
According to the channel’s reporters, a group of radicals of the black block movement formed against the background of the demonstration. Demonstrators smashed supermarket windows before going inside and causing further damage. A bank branch was also attacked.
⠀
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said five people had been detained. Six people were injured, one of them was a representative of the gendarmerie forces who received a burn.
⠀
Earlier, about 200 activists blocked a number of facilities of the agro-industrial company Soufflet in the port of La Rochelle. They argued that the company supports the construction of irrigation reservoirs to increase the profitability of its investments in port expansion. Later, law enforcement officers pushed the activists away from the port using tear gas.
⠀
Representatives of the Bassines Non Merci movement called for continued demonstrations in Charuyer Park in La Rochelle.
