Martinique’s airport briefly closes after violent protesters overrun the tarmac

Hundreds of passengers were stranded in the French Caribbean island of Martinique on Friday after its airport was briefly forced to close because protesters overran the tarmac and tried to break in, the airport and local authorities said.

The overnight shutdown backed up flights, and officials at the airport urged stranded passengers to contact their airlines for information after the facility resumed operations by mid-morning.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said French authorities had regained control of the airport, which demonstrators targeted in the latest protest decrying a high cost of living. Retailleau added that reinforcements were being sent.

“We will reestablish order,” he said. But he added: “We also have to take into account” local people’s unhappiness about high prices.

“We have to do both,” he said.

Since Monday night, Martinique has been gripped by bouts of protests over the high cost of living that turned violent, with at least one person killed as demonstrators set fire to a police station, cars and road barricades and clashed with officers.

On Thursday night, protesters overran the tarmac on the airport in the island’s capital, Fort-de-France, and tried to force their way into the main entrance, where hundreds of passengers had taken shelter, according to videos posted on social media.

Police securing the entrance were seen fending off assaults from the demonstrators and firing what appears to be tear gas in their direction, and the airport later said on Facebook that flights were suspended.

Three planes carrying some 1,000 passengers had to be diverted to nearby island of Guadeloupe on Thursday, Martinique local prefecture said in its statement. Another 500 passengers who were supposed to board those flights were stuck at the Fort-de-France airport, it said.

The prefecture said the run on the airport came after “rumors” spread on social media about the imminent arrival of hundreds of French police officers by plane.

“This completely false information is at the origin of groupings and the invasion of the airport runway,” the statement read.

So far this week, nearly a dozen officers were injured as protesters threw bottles and rocks and police responded with tear gas, according to the government. Some demonstrators also opened fire, officials said.

The latest round of violence prompted the government to announce another curfew as it stressed that demonstrations on public roads were prohibited.

It is the latest in a string of protests that began in early September, prompting France to send special anti-riot police to the island, which has banned demonstrations in certain areas.

Martinique has seen similar protests in recent years, many of them fueled by anger over what demonstrators say is economic, social and racial inequality.

SOURCE: AP