One-year-old baby hospitalised after being hit by firework as school protests sweep France

A one-year-old infant has been hospitalised after being hit by a firework while in a pram during nationwide student protests that have rocked France. A high school student was arrested in connection with the incident, which took place near a blockaded school in Santi-Cyr-l’Ecole on Paris’s outskirts near Versailles. The child was treated for tinnitus, RMC reported. It comes as at least 260,000 people took part in marches across the country on Tuesday, according to France’s interior ministry, while organisers say that the figure is closer to 450,000. French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu said that at least 215 teenagers and 85 school staff had been injured in the clashes, calling it the “heaviest toll in decades paid by the school system”. More than 700 police officers were also hurt, he said. A protester looks on next to a fire during a demonstration of high-school students as part of a nationwide protest movement over learning conditions in Lyon on October 6, 2026. (AFP/Getty)Half of the country’s 3,700 high schools were shut or partially closed as a result of the protests. The demonstrations started as an appeal for better conditions but have grown over the last fortnight leading to clashes. Footage of Saint-Denis mayor Bally Bagayoko went viral as he appeared to shield protesters from police in protests. The politician was tear-gassed, according to Al Jazeera. Police have used water cannons and tear gas against demonstrators as the clashes have growing increasingly intense. Schools have been set alight and police have also been injured in the unrest. Several storefronts have also been damaged. “There is such a gap between the elites and us,” said Hugo Vetzel, a recent high-school graduate in Strasbourg.Omar Slaouti, a high school teacher in argenteuil, a northwestern suburb of Paris said: “They want to divide the young people into good and bad protesters. (Reuters)“If there were no trash cans on fire, the government would not have stepped back and become aware of the issues at stake.”The French interior ministry said 488 people had been arrested on Tuesday and that 48 security personnel were injured. One 15-year-old student reportedly had his hand blown off after he picked up a stun grenade on Monday. Lecornu condemned the actions and said: “Burning down a high school does not improve the state of high school buildings. Lynching a teacher does not help replace teachers.”He announced classes would be suspended for the rest of the week in a bid to calm the situation down.Lecornu condemned “extreme violence” that he said has been knocking "on the door of high schools", which he "condemned unconditionally".The leader described the demonstrations as the most violent student protests in decades. Paris police said that clashes in the capital resulted from around 300 people, most hooded or masked, facing off against security forces. They said that the protest generally unfolded without major incident elsewhere.