Police watchdog probes suspected riot-round hit on teenager in Tours

French prosecutors opened an investigation on Wednesday after a teenager was hospitalised with a head injury during a school blockade in Tours, with witnesses saying he may have been struck by a police riot-control round. Tours prosecutor Catherine Sorita-Minard said she had asked the national police watchdog, the IGPN, to investigate, and that the cause of the injury was not yet determined.

The teenager was taken to hospital after being hurt during a blockade at a school in central Tours on Wednesday, Sud Ouest and Franceinfo reported. A scan and a forensic examination were due to take place the same afternoon. Police in the Indre-et-Loire department said checks were under way, drawing on officers' statements, body-camera footage and witness accounts, to establish whether the injury resulted from a riot-gun round.

Secondary-school unions called for a second day of protests on Thursday, saying Wednesday's turnout had been smaller, according to Sud Ouest. Local officials said violence in Tours had been "fairly intense", and said six people had been arrested there on Tuesday over attacks involving thrown projectiles at police, with two of them due before a juvenile court in November.

French police detained 440 people on Tuesday as student protests over crumbling school buildings and teacher shortages spread across the country, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said. Most of those held were minors, Nunez told the broadcaster BFMTV, adding that they mostly faced accusations of criminal damage or attacks on police officers. He said the figures were still provisional.

France's education ministry said 31 students and staff were injured nationwide, including at least ten education employees, Education Minister Édouard Geffray said. One teacher was assaulted in the north of the country, he said, while a headteacher in the Hauts-de-Seine department was hurt by a firework and another, in Essonne, received a death threat. Geffray called the violence "unspeakable" and said protesters who encouraged more blockades were putting pupils and staff at risk.

The ministry said 416 schools were affected by protests or disruption on Tuesday, with 45 still blockaded and a further 46 having faced blockade attempts. The USL secondary-school union put the number of blockaded lycées higher, at about 400.

The unrest began on Friday in the greater Paris region before spreading nationwide, driven by complaints over underfunded schools, staff shortages and ageing buildings.

Student unions are planning a further day of action on 6 October, calling for what they describe as massive funding for schools and universities. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is due to present the government's 2027 budget this week, as France seeks to rein in record public debt.