Demonstration against the A69: activists start fires in two companies on the construction site

Fires were started by anti-A69 activists in two companies working on the construction site of this Castres-Toulouse motorway, on the sidelines of the demonstration of opponents of the project, AFP learned from a spokesperson for the Atosca concessionaire. and the Tarn prefecture.

“An extremely virulent group of 400 people is currently attacking a cement company and started a fire,” the prefecture said in a message on the X network (formerly Twitter). According to the same source, the police then dislodged the activists and the firefighters were able to intervene in this company, Carayon BTP, where an AFP photographer noted that several trucks were caught in the flames.

“More than 9,500 people” gathered, according to the organizers

Shortly before 4 p.m., the fire had not yet been contained and “it was being treated by the firefighters”. Another Tarn construction company, Bardou, in Cambounet-sur-le-Sor, which is also working on the A69 construction site, was also targeted by opponents, according to an Atosca spokesperson.

The mobilization against the highway called “Ramdam sur le macadam” brought together “more than 9,500 people”, according to the organizers. It split into several processions over the course of the afternoon, one taking a railway line while a more violent group visibly headed in the direction of the targeted businesses. Around 4:15 p.m., the prefecture mentioned 2,400 demonstrators in the main procession of the demonstration and the prefect’s office estimated the “number of radical and violent individuals outside the main procession” at 2,500.

These disruptive elements sought to do battle with the police and gendarmes by throwing fences at them. This demonstrator, interviewed by Europe 1, and present during these clashes, does not intend to stifle the mobilization. “Personally, I am angry. We will continue, it must continue. And there, we can get there,” he believes. A field was also trapped by the flames and some organizers were quickly overwhelmed. The police made arrests and two people were injured.

A69 demonstration | After being prevented by the demonstrators, who were cleared by the police, the firefighters were able to intervene at the scene of the fire. pic.twitter.com/9Qlj74UevS

— Prefect of Tarn (@prefet81) October 21, 2023

Organized by several environmental collectives and associations as well as unions, the “Ramdam sur le macadam” mobilization has established a camp since Friday and until Sunday in Saïx, about ten kilometers east of Castres. Opponents denounce this highway project, which must be put into service in 2025 and whose work, very briefly interrupted at the end of last week, resumed on Monday. The organizers indicate that a ZAD would be under construction.