Rioting spreads beyond Paris suburbs (AP) Updated: 2005-11-05 13:45
An Interior Ministry operations center tracking the destruction reported some
355 vehicules burned overnight around France — one-third outside the Paris
region. The figure marked a drop from the more than 500 vehicules set ablaze 24
hours earlier. However arrests were up, to about 170, the center said.
Officials in the Yvelines region west of Paris said at least 60 vehicles were
torched and a nursery school was all but burned to the ground.
At a depot in Trappes, to the southwest, 27 buses were incinerated, officials
said.
The commuter train line linking Paris to Charles de Gaulle airport ran
limited service Friday after two trains were targeted Wednesday night.
The U.S. Embassy called the protests "extremely violent" and warned travelers
against taking trains to the airport because they pass through the troubled
area. Russia, meanwhile, warned citizens against visiting the suburbs.
The Foreign Ministry said it was concerned that foreign
media coverage was exaggerating the situation. "I don't have the feeling that
foreign tourists in Paris are in any way placed in danger by these events,"
ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said, adding that officials were
"sometimes a bit surprised" by the foreign coverage.
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