POLICE USE TEAR GAS DURING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' PROTEST

PARIS, OCTOBER 1 /SRNA/ - Police used tear gas after a high school students' protest turned into riots in the commune of Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, a RIA Novosti correspondent at the scene reported.

The French national Student Union and the High School Students' Association had earlier called for blockades of lyceums and universities across France to continue today.

Dozens of high school students gathered near the Bartholdi Lycée in Saint-Denis this morning to protest a number of problems in the education sector, and later moved closer to central Paris.

The protest remained peaceful until people dressed in black appeared and began throwing firecrackers at police officers and smashing rubbish bins, prompting police to use tear gas.