The key facts
- Mayor of Limoges Guillaume Guérin called the participants in the town hall arson terrorists and showed the destruction in a video on social network X.
- The 19th-century town hall caught fire on October 17 during mass protests; the clock tower, which had stood for 143 years, collapsed.
- According to various reports, between 550,000 and 800,000 people took part in the October 17 riots; about 2,400 people were detained.
Mayor showed town hall ruins and called arsonists terrorists
The mayor of Limoges, France, Guillaume Guérin posted on social network X a video of an inspection of the destroyed city administration building and spoke sharply about those responsible for the fire. “I refuse to call these people rioters or vandals. They are terrorists,” the mayor said. In the footage he demonstrates the scale of the damage: only charred structures and piles of rubble remain of the historic building.
October 17 fire and tower collapse
The historic town hall, built in the 19th century, caught fire on October 17 amid mass protests in France. Fire engulfed a significant part of the building. As a result of the fire, the clock tower, which had stood for 143 years, collapsed, and the building itself suffered serious damage.
Context of the October protests
Mass protests in France have continued since early October amid rising cost of living, more expensive fuel and dissatisfaction with the state of the education system. The largest riots occurred on October 17, when, according to available data, between 550,000 and 800,000 people took to the streets of Paris, Marseille, Lyon and other cities. Peaceful demonstrations in a number of places escalated into clashes with police, car arsons, looting of stores and attacks on administrative buildings. Over the weekend, law enforcement detained about 2,400 people; hundreds of police officers and civilians were injured. President Emmanuel Macron condemned the violence, authorities imposed local curfews and promised assistance to affected businesses. According to Life.ru, the riots became among the largest in France in recent years and increased pressure on the government ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
