France protests: Beijing lodges complaint over attack on bus carrying Chinese tourists

Beijing [China], July 2 : China has lodged a complaint to France over an alleged attack on a bus carrying Chinese tourists, during the intense protests that have gripped the nation over the fatal police shooting of a teenage boy, DW News reported.

The bus carrying the Chinese tourists was attacked in the southern city of Marseille, which has remained a flashpoint of the violence.

China's Consulate General in Marseille filed a formal complaint, saying rioters smashed the windows of the bus, causing minor injuries, DW News reported.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the attack occurred on Thursday. The tourists have since left France, the consulate said.The Chinese consulate has further issued an advisory for its nationals planning to visit France.

The consulate has also called on Chinese nationals planning to visit France and asked them to exercise caution and vigilance.

Meanwhile, the French Interior Ministry informed that 719 people were arrested by the police in connection with the riots on Saturday.

It also said that 45 police personnel, of some 45,000 deployed for days to control the violence, were injured during the "resolute action" which led to a "calmer night".

"45000 police and gendarmes and thousands of firefighters were mobilized to protect and guarantee republican order. Their resolute action under the coordination of the prefects made it possible to experience a calmer night," the Interior Ministry said in a tweet.

Amid the heavy protests, the house of a Mayor of a Paris suburb was attacked early Sunday morning, CNN reported.

"At 1:30 a.m., while I was at the city hall like the past three nights, individuals rammed their car upon my residence before setting fire to it to burn my house, inside which my wife and my two young children slept," said mayor Vincent Jeanbrun of L'Hay-les-Roses, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris.

Protests have erupted in France after the death of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was shot by a police officer in Nanterre earlier this week. The funeral of Nahel Merzouk took place at a mosque in Nanterre on Saturday amid heavy security presence.

The death of Nahel Merzouk has sparked a debate on policing in France's marginalised communities and raised questions on whether race played a role in his death, the CNN report said.

The officer who is accused of shooting him was taken to jail. Nahel Merzouk's mother Mounia while speaking to television station France 5 on Friday blamed only the officer who shot her son for his death.