Teenage student has hand blown off by police stun grenade during school protests

Six Counties / 4 October 2026 Sinn Fein vows to cooperate with any Drumcree Parade police investigation 4 October 2026 East Africa / 4 October 2026 Ethiopian federal forces retake Mekelle airport from Tigrayan fighters 4 October 2026 South Asia / 4 October 2026 India and Pakistan summon diplomats after two killed in border incident 4 October 2026 Eastern Europe / 4 October 2026 Medvedev spells out Russia’s conditions for peace with Ukraine 4 October 2026 East Africa / 4 October 2026 Somalia's president says his country will not accept Israeli presence ‘under any circumstance’ 4 October 2026 Round-up / 4 October 2026 World in brief: October 4, 2026 4 October 2026 A TEENAGE student had his hand blown off by a police stun grenade during continuing mass school protests in France today.

The 15-year-old student of Behal high school in Lens was injured after reportedly picking up a stun grenade being used by police, according to La Voix Du Nord.

The young boy also sustained injuries to his arm.

An investigation has been opened by French authorities into what happened.

The incident comes as protests closed about 500 schools as students continued their protests across the country over dilapidated schools and classrooms, overcrowding and teacher shortages.

A nationwide day of demonstrations has been planned to take place on Tuesday.

The protests began in late September at a high school in a Paris suburb over teacher shortages before spreading nationwide.

Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon told CNews television today that the priority was now “to restore order.”

Education Minister Edouard Geffray said that 24 schools had been burned or ransacked and that 78 teaching staff had been injured since the beginning of the demonstrations.

Some of the most violent footage emerging from the demonstrations shows police officers being attacked and fires breaking out.

There were violent clashes between police and students in Lille in northern France, with tear gas being used in Toulouse in the south-west.

Since last Monday, about 5,000 people, mostly teenagers, have been arrested across the country and dozens have been injured. 

Student unions have called for a national day of demonstrations to take place on Tuesday as security officials fear that the demonstrations could spark further violence.

Leader of the CGT union federation Sophie Binet told TF1 television that members will attend to “protect high school students.”

She said: “We’ve been appalled by what we have seen over the past 10 days and by the unprecedented crackdown that the government has organised against the protests by high school students.”