Ambulance drivers, students join French 'yellow vest' protests

Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Paramedics and high school students joined anti-government protests across France on Monday as a fourth person died as a result of the at-times violent demonstrations.

Teenagers at about 100 high schools walked out of class, barricading the schools and in some cases, setting garbage on fire. They called for President Emmanuel Macron's resignation.

Anti-government protesters wearing yellow vests have for weeks demonstrated in the French capital, causing widespread damage and disobedience, officials said. They were initially angry about a new diesel tax but their rage has expanded to include Macron's pro-business policies they say has left them in poverty.

Ambulance drivers also joined the protesters, saying the fuel hikes and social security reforms have financially crippled them.

The BBC reported an 80-year-old woman has died after being hit in the face with a projectile during Saturday's protests. The woman, whose name was not revealed, was attempting to close the shutters at her apartment near the protests when she was struck.

She later died of shock during during an operation at the hospital. She is the fourth person to die in relation to the protests. The three others died in traffic-related incidents.

Macron toured the damage in the heart of Paris on Sunday, walking past burned out cars, graffiti on the Arc de Triomphe and smashed business windows. An iconic reproduction of the sculpture La Marseillaise had its face smashed during protests Saturday.

Prime Minister Edouard Phillippe was expected to meet with the leader of the "yellow vest" movement Monday.

"I will never accept violence," Macron said. "No cause justifies that authorities are attacked, that businesses are plundered, that passers-by or journalists are threatened or that the Arc de Triomphe is defiled."

The "yellow vest riots" ended Saturday with more than 400 arrested. Firefighters put out nearly 190 fires, including cars and some businesses. The graffiti on the Arc de Triomphe includes the words "Yellow Jackets Will Triumph," in French.

Macron said despite the resistance, he will not back down from his hard line on labor laws. He convened a crisis Cabinet meeting Sunday to consider a state of emergency.

French interior ministry blamed extremists for the violence in Paris, saying the majority of the demonstrators were peaceful with some holding roses.

"We live with stress," Paris resident Fabrice Girardin told The New York Times. "Every month at the end of the month, we say, 'will there be enough to eat?'"

The scale of riots and vandalism hasn't been seen in Paris since May 1968, when the city saw weeks of unrest that was spurred by various issues.