Student celebrations in Paris turn violent

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — High school students feting the end of their final exams went on the rampage near the Eiffel Tower in Paris early Saturday, resulting in 25 arrests and two policemen slightly injured, police said.

Some 5,000 young people gathered in the Champ de Mars, a grassy area next to the tower, but as their celebrations became boisterous police used tear gas to disperse them. They moved to a nearby shopping district looting one shop and smashing shop windows.

Five of the youths who were detained were subsequently released.

Police said a few "trouble makers" among the crowd celebrating the end of their baccalaureate exams who threw bottles.

About 30 police charged, throwing tear gas grenades to disperse the unruly revellers, who then tried to set...