Authorities in the French Caribbean island of Martinique on Thursday will ban protests and declare a new curfew after fresh riots over spiraling prices saw one person killed by gunshot, 26 officers injured and stores looted, a source in the administration told Agence France-Presse.
In recent weeks the island of 350,000 people has been shaken by violent protests over high food prices. After ebbing for some days, tensions erupted again on Monday. During a fresh night of troubles from Wednesday to Thursday, protesters looted shops, erected burning barricades and clashed with police.
The local prefecture said one man died of his wounds after being shot in unclear circumstances. The wounded man was discovered by police responding to reports of looting at a shopping center in the town of Robert. The victim was declared dead in hospital and a probe was launched, the prefecture said. Police did not open fire during the night, the prefecture said.
Twenty-six gendarmes and police officers were injured including one by gunfire, authorities said.
As a result of the latest bout of violence, the Martinique prefect, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, planned to order a curfew from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am as of Thursday and ban all protests and gatherings across the territory, a source at the prefecture told AFP.
Authorities had already in September enforced a similar curfew in several neighborhoods of Fort-de-France and Lamentin.
Protests over cost of living
French Minister for Overseas Territories Francois-Noël Buffet condemned the violence and called for "responsibility and calm."
During the latest violence, at least three stores and several car parks were set ablaze overnight. Clashes continued into the night and burnt-out cars blocked traffic on one key road in Fort-de-France, the island's main city. Footage circulating on social networks showed a burning barricade on the ring road in Fort-de-France, and projectiles being thrown at vehicles trying to go around it.
On Wednesday, four police were "slightly injured" in the town of Carbet during efforts to dismantle a roadblock, the prefecture said. Schools on the island remained closed on Thursday.
Residents of France's overseas territories have long complained about the high cost of living. In Martinique, food prices are 40 percent higher than in mainland France. The protests were launched in early September by the Assembly for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources, which demands that food prices be aligned with mainland France.