Curfew extended in French Caribbean territory amid power blackout

paris — 

French authorities maintained a nighttime curfew amid caller unrest connected the Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe connected Saturday arsenic they battled to reconstruct powerfulness they accused striking vigor workers of sabotaging.

Guadeloupe and the adjacent French land of Martinique person seen weeks of often convulsive protests implicit the outgo of living. A nighttime curfew has been successful unit successful Martinique for 16 days due to the fact that of unrest there.

French authorities kept Guadeloupe nether curfew for a 2nd nighttime "to warrant information and tranquility" aft the island's powerfulness was wholly chopped connected Friday.

But pillagers took vantage of the blackout to ransack Guadeloupe's commercialized halfway Pointe-a-Pitre.

Looters busted done the windows of respective stores with an excavator, successful images filmed and published connected societal media, with immoderate 50 radical past piling successful to snatch the contents.

"This is the 2nd clip successful 3 years that my store has been gutted," said jewelry store proprietor Carole Venutolo, her dependable choked with grief and anger.

Police said they were fired connected with unrecorded ammunition, with bullets doubly hitting 1 of their vehicles.

The EDF powerfulness institution said that two-thirds of the 380,000 radical deed by a blackout had energy again. Authorities accused striking workers of blocking the Jarry powerfulness station's engines and cutting energy to the island.

Regional authorities main Guy Losbar said helium was "outraged" by the workers' actions.

Authorities successful Martinique, which has a colonisation of astir 350,000, said that contempt the curfew astir 50 masked "troublemakers" had acceptable up burning roadblocks successful 2 districts.

On erstwhile nights, shots person been fired, trucks stolen and petrol stations looted, authorities said.