KUALA LUMPUR — Several Malaysians caught in the escalating violent riots across France recounted harrowing experiences of being trapped in gridlock traffic and shuttered in luxury boutiques as violent demonstrations tore through major European cities.
Ozil Zainal detailed his tense ordeal on social media after his vehicle was immobilised by a roving mob of rioters while driving into the French capital yesterday.
“While driving along a road, all vehicles suddenly stopped as rioters passed through the area.
“The other drivers and I could not move. We were trapped with no way out on either side,” Ozil said in a post on Threads.
Ozil said bystanders had to wait for the situation to de-escalate before traffic could resume, adding that firefighters and medical teams were dispatched to control the aftermath.
He noted that the riots resulted in widespread destruction of public property.
Another Malaysian, known online as Lili Abroad, reported being locked inside a Louis Vuitton boutique as luxury outlets in central Paris initiated emergency lockdown procedures when protests erupted at around 5:00 pm local time.
In a post on Thread, she said she was thankful that she had managed to leave the riot-hit area quickly before the situation worsened.
“The riots were estimated to have started at 5pm,” said Lili, who has since left for southern France for other matters.
Meanwhile, another Malaysian, Mohd Khairul Razikin, who is based in Limoges, France said in a Thread post that rioters set fire to the historic Hôtel de Ville de Limoges, an iconic landmark standing since 1883 located near his residence.
“This building has stood magnificently since 1883. It is sad to see what has happened today,” he said.
The unrest forms part of a broader wave of mass protests and violent demonstrations that have swept major European hubs—including Paris and Milan, Italy—since September, marking some of the worst violence in France in decades.
Discontent among demonstrators is reportedly driven by compounding grievances over student welfare, declining public services, and the surging cost of living across the region.-MalayaDailyToday
