PARIS, March 8. /TASS/. Almost 1.3 million people took to the streets in various cities of France on Tuesday to protest against the pension reform, the republic’s interior ministry said.
A crowd of over 80,000 people gathered in Paris on March 7, compared to 37,000 participants of a similar rally on February 16.
In turn, the CGT trade union published its own statistics, which suggested that the rallies in the French capital gathered around 700,000 participants.
The protests turned violent in at least three French cities. In Paris, a series of clashes between police and protestors was reported, and police had to use tear gas against the crowd after bottles and stones were thrown at them. Property damage was also reported. 43 people were detained. Meanwhile, 35 police officers were injured in Lyon, where six protestors were detained. Reports of violence also came from Nantes, where some 30,000 people took to the streets on Tuesday.
Protests were also held in Brest {22,000 participants), Rennes (19,000), Pau (15,000), Tours (11,000), Strasbourg (9,500) and other cities.
According to the Intersyndicale organization, more protests will be held on March 11 and 15.