France has suspended the use of stun grenades during student demonstrations after a 15-year-old boy lost his hand in an incident involving police in the northern city of Lens.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez ordered the suspension pending clarification of the circumstances surrounding the incident, amid conflicting accounts from authorities and protesters, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
The teenager was injured on Monday near Auguste Béhal High School in Lens, where demonstrations over school conditions were continuing across the country.
Authorities said the boy picked up an anti-encirclement grenade that had been deployed by police before it exploded. Students, however, alleged that he was directly struck by a grenade fired by a police officer.
According to the local prefecture, officers had been confronted by between 200 and 250 students who threw stones and fireworks during the confrontation.
Nuñez said the police watchdog, IGPN, had opened 18 investigations into whether officers used proportionate force during the demonstrations.
He said the use of stun grenades would remain suspended until the circumstances surrounding the Lens incident had been fully established.
The grenades are classified as non-lethal weapons but release rubber projectiles when they detonate.
The incident has heightened concerns over police tactics during student demonstrations that have expanded from high school pupils to university students, parents and trade unions.
More than 500 schools were fully or partially closed on Wednesday following nationwide protests the previous day. The Interior Ministry said 488 people had been arrested, while 43 security officers were injured during the demonstrations.
Concerns over police conduct had already intensified following another incident in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, north-west of Paris, last week, when a 14-year-old boy was struck in the face by a tear-gas grenade.
His lawyer said the teenager lost several teeth and suffered a fractured jaw. A police officer has been charged in connection with the incident.
Prosecutors also opened an attempted-murder investigation on Wednesday after a 17-year-old protester alleged that a police officer held his head underwater while attempting to arrest him near a river in Belfort.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has condemned violence during the demonstrations, saying 215 students, 85 school staff and 715 police officers had been injured since the protests began in mid-September.
The Interior Ministry said more than 6,500 people had been stopped or arrested during the unrest.
President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting with Lecornu and other senior ministers on Tuesday as the government sought to address the escalating crisis.
Government figures estimated that more than 250,000 people took part in Tuesday’s demonstrations, while student unions put the turnout at about 450,000.
Further protests are planned for Thursday in Paris and other cities across France.
