France: Sixth night of unrest sees relative calm

This live blog is now closed. For more DW coverage on the unrest in France, please visit our dedicated dossier.

A firefighter has died after working to put out burning cars in the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Twitter.

The fire brigade had rushed to extinguish a fire in an underground parking garage where multiple cars were ablaze.

Darmanin said that the 24-year-old man died overnight despite receiving rapid treatment from fellow firefighters.

According to French daily Le Parisien, the young man had suffered a heart attack.

The minister did not say whether the incident was directly related to the unrest in France.

Mayors in France have urged the public and elected officials across the country to assemble at town halls on Monday to display collective opposition to the ongoing violent protests.

The appeal for a "mobilization of citizens for a return to republican order" came after the residence of the mayor of a Paris suburb was attacked on Sunday.

The mayors released a statement saying that the recent violence had targeted "republican symbols such as town halls, schools, libraries, municipal police stations."

The French government has been trying to quell the protests that erupted after a police officer shot a 17-year-old dead at a traffic stop.

France appeared calmer on Sunday night with a relatively low number of arrests and incidents of violence being reported.

Police made a total of 78 arrests by 1:30 a.m. (2330 GMT on Sunday) across the country, this was later increased to 157 — far fewer than the number of arrests made on the previous nights.

The interior ministry reported that 297 vehicles were set alight and counted a total of 352 street fires.

French media had reported more than 1,300 arrests made by the police on Friday night and more than 700 on Saturday night.

While there were some incidences of rioting in certain hotspots, the intensity did not match the level that had been seen earlier in the week.

President Emmanuel Macron and senior members of his government gathered at the Interior Ministry's crisis center on Sunday to discuss the unrest. 

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti were among the other ministers to attend. 

It had appeared doubtful that Macron or his colleagues planned a public address in the aftermath, late on a Sunday night. 

But French media reported after the talks, citing sources at the Elysees Palace, that Macron had planned further meetings for early in the coming week.

These would include talks with France's more than 200 mayors, and with the presidents of the two houses of parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly, BFM TV and newspaper Le Parisien reported. 

The office of Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that 45,000 police officers were available for overnight duty on Sunday, the same figure as on the previous two nights. 

President Emmanuel Macron was also holding a special security meeting on Sunday night, though it was not clear whether he would speak publicly amid the engagement. 

Macron earlier this week delayed what would have been a French president's first formal state visit to Germany in 23 years, which would have started on Sunday evening, in order to deal with the unrest at home. 

Early on Sunday evening, the situation appeared somewhat calmer. Though quite often the unrest has only really started in earnest after nightfall.

Police in major cities had not issued the updates on violence or arrests that have become routine in the past few days. 

Paris' police precinct, however, posted a notification on social media saying that a special decree by the local prefecture "authorizes the capture, recording and transmission of images" by aerial drones between 6 p.m. on Sunday evening and 6 a.m. the next morning in parts of the city, seemingly in a bid to aid the identification of suspects and police coordination. 

The grandmother of 17-year-old Nahel, who was fatally shot by a police officer at close range on Tuesday, has called on riots ongoing since his death to stop.

Speaking to BFMTV, the grandmother asked rioters to "stop breaking shop windows, stop breaking schools or buses."

 "I tell the people who are rioting this: Do not smash windows, attack schools or buses. Stop! It's the mums who are taking the bus, it's the mums who walk outside," she said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was following the situation "with concern," a day after French President Emmanuel Macron postponed a state visit to Germany due to the violence at home.

Speaking the German state broadcaster ARD, Scholz described France as a "friendly neighboring country."

"That is why we are of course looking at (the riots) with concern, and I very much hope, and I am certainly convinced, that the French president will find ways to ensure that this situation improves quickly."

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne condemned the attack on the house of the mayor of a southern Paris suburb, describing it as "particularly shocking."

"We're going to do everything to bring order back as soon as possible," Borne said during a visit to l'Hay-les-Roses, where she met mayor Vincent Jeanbrun.

The local prosecutor announced opening an investigation into attempted murder.

Meanwhile, France's Association of Mayors (AMF) called for a protest in front of the town halls nationwide on Monday in solidarity with Jeanbrun, urging both mayors and citizens to join.

French President Emmanuel Macron is due to address the situation on Sunday evening. He is also planning on holding a special security meeting with Borne, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and the justice minister.

The protests were sparked by the death of 17-year-old Nahel. The teenage driver was shot and killed by a police officer at close range at a traffic stop in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday. He was of Algerian origin.

The teenager's death prompted unrest, clashes and arson attacks in several Paris suburbs on Tuesday night. The unrest expanded nationwide with nightly protests and riots often taking a violent turn.

Protesters aim to highlight the discrimination, and often violence, they say minorities in France face at the hands of the police. 

French President Emmanuel Macron has described the shooting incident as "inexcusable" but has also spoken out against rioting and the violence. Law enforcement responded by deploying large police forces to major cities, and arresting thousands. 

Nahel was buried on Saturday, following a Muslim funeral in in Nanterre attended by friends, family and supporters of the protest movement who went to pay their respects. 

Previously, his mother told France 5 TV that she was angry at the officer who killed her son but not at the police in general.

"He saw a little Arab-looking kid, he wanted to take his life," the mother said.

Nanterre Mayor Patrick Jarry said France needed to "push for changes'' in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

rmt/dj,wd (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)