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PARIS - Firemen who attacked police officers and set fire to a police bus after a protest turned violent should be severely punished, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said.
Seven firemen and 15 police officers were injured after a protest in Paris on Tuesday local time for better working conditions and retirement rights in the fire brigade ended in violent clashes.
French television said seven firemen were held for questioning.
"The violence we saw yesterday is not acceptable," Sarkozy told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
"These excesses will be severely punished. Violence is not acceptable in any line of work."
Wearing their fire helmets and uniforms, the firemen threw fire extinguishers, stones, bottles and fired flares towards police officers wearing riot gear.
Around 6000 firemen took part in the protest, according to police estimates.
The national fire-brigade union condemned the firemen's behaviour and attributed it to a few troublemakers. In a statement it said that the "criminal" and "extreme" behaviour had tarnished the image of all of France's firemen.
- REUTERS
