One dead and hundreds injured in French fuel protests

French protests over rising fuel prices have left hundreds of people injured and one dead after demonstrations spilled into a second day.

The "yellow vests" movement, named for the high-visibility jackets worn by supporters, erupted on social media last month with calls for blockades of roads and highways in protest at rising fuel prices.

The French interior ministry estimates almost 300,000 people across 2,000 locations took part in Saturday’s demonstration.

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The Local reports that “although most of the blockades were carried out without incident, tempers flared at times as some drivers confronted the protesters or tried to force their way through”.

Of the 409 injured, 28 are members of the police and fire brigade, said Christophe Castaner, the interior minister.

“Last night was restive... There were assaults, fights, stabbings,” Castaner told RTL radio. “There were fights among ‘yellow vest’ protesters. There was a lot of alcohol at certain venues, which led to this idiotic behaviour.”

At least 300 people were questioned by police and 157 taken into custody.

The worst incident on Saturday saw one protester accidently killed when a driver surrounded by demonstrators panicked and accelerated into the crowd.

In Paris, protesters partially blocked the Champs Elysees in the heart of the French capital before marching on the presidential Elysee Palace.

Reporting from Paris, Al Jazeera’s Neave Barker said violent clashes broke out between the police and protesters, during which the security forces used tear gas.

Discontent centres around the impact of new “green taxes” that have seen the price of diesel, the most commonly used fuel in French cars, rise by around 23% over the past 12 months to its highest point since the early 2000s, AFP news agency reports.

Rising global oil prices have been partly to blame, but most of the anger is directed towards Emmanuel Macron’s government which has raised its hydrocarbon tax this year by 7.6 cents per litre on diesel and 3.9 cents on petrol, as part of a campaign for cleaner cars and fuel.

Macron came to power last year vowing to overhaul the economy and he has argued the price hikes are needed to wean people off fossil fuels, but “many French see the fuel hikes as emblematic of Macron’s presidency, which they view as disconnected from day-to-day economic difficulties and designed to help the rich”, says the Daily Telegraph.

The BBC says “support for the protests appears broad”. Nearly three-quarters of respondents to a poll by the Elabe institute backed the Yellow Vests and 70% wanted the government to reverse the fuel tax hikes.

This stands in stark contrast to Macron’s personal approval ratings, which currently stand at just 25%, according to a poll by research group Ifop published on Sunday in the Journal du Dimanche.

In a TV interview last week, the president admitted he had “not succeeded in reconciling the French with their leaders" and that "we have probably not given them enough consideration”.

The government has announced a series of measures to try to quell the anger over fuel prices, including energy subsidies and higher bonuses towards cleaner vehicles, but Macron appears intent on continuing to raise fuel prices, which are set to increase again in January.