Paris police fired water cannons and tear gas to repel “yellow vest” demonstrators from around the Arc de Triomphe monument on Saturday in the ninth straight weekend of protests against French President Emmanuel Macron’s economic reforms.
Thousands of protesters also marched noisily but peacefully through the Grands Boulevards shopping area in northern Paris, close to where a major gas explosion in a bakery killed two firefighters and injured nearly 50 people early on Saturday.
Groups of protesters also gathered on and around Paris’s famous Champs Elysees boulevard, the scene of disturbances in recent weeks, many of them calling loudly for Macron to resign.
2 Firefighters Killed in Paris Bakery Blast; Dozens Injured
French authorities said two firefighters were killed and 47 people injured in a powerful explosion and fire apparently caused by a gas leak at a Paris bakery on Jan. 12, that blasted out windows and overturned cars.Firefighters pulled injured victims from windows and evacuated residents as smoke billowed over Rue de Trevise in the 9th arrondissement of north-central Paris.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said that two firefighters have been killed in the bakery blast, correcting the overall figure of four dead given earlier by France’s interior minister.
Authorities said 10 people were in critical condition and 37 others less seriously injured.
Miami Airport Temporarily Closes Concourse
A concourse at Miami international airport shut down early Saturday due to a shortage of TSA screeners.An airport spokesperson says concourse G, located in one of the airport’s terminals, was closed to the public at 1 p.m. local time Saturday.
That same concourse will shut down around the same time Sunday and Monday.
About 20 non-federal employees could be out of work due to the temporary closures of four eateries and a gift shop in and around the concourse.
