A teenager lost his hand and part of his lower arm after picking up a police dispersal grenade during violent clashes between high school protesters and French police, according to officials cited by Reuters. The explosive detonated in the town of Lens as nationwide unrest over school conditions entered its third week.

The teenager, 15, suffered the devastating injury while hundreds of protesters confronted officers. François-Xavier Lauch, prefect of Pas-de-Calais, said roughly 200 to 250 protesters had been throwing objects at police during the disorder.

Video from Reuters showed riot police moving toward students as fires burned and protesters clashed with officers. The unrest has spread across France as students demand improved learning conditions, additional teachers and increased resources.

The demonstrations began in Paris and were concentrated largely in poor suburbs before expanding nationwide. Students have protested class sizes, timetables, teacher shortages and classrooms that became overheated during the year's heatwaves.

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Government officials said the protests have increasingly descended into violence. Some schools have been ransacked, while barricades, fires and confrontations with police have become part of the growing turmoil.

More than 400 schools remain closed amid the disruption. Images from the demonstrations showed masked protesters establishing a barricade near the Lycee Berthelot high school in Aubervilliers, near Paris, on Oct. 2, 2026.

A placard carried during that demonstration read, “Same studies, but not the same rights”. Protesters there were demanding the hiring of substitute teachers, greater resources and better conditions for students.

Another image showed students clashing with police in Lyon, in central eastern France, on Oct. 1, 2026. The demonstrations have continued outside schools since late September, with anger focused on both staffing and classroom conditions.

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The Lens explosion occurred on the eve of a national demonstration organized by the pupils' union. That demonstration was aimed at underfunding, overcrowding and dilapidation across French schools.

Education Minister Edouard Geffray said the overall wave of protests had been declining in recent days. He also said the government would launch a platform allowing students to express their dissatisfaction.

Despite that claim, protesters in Paris made clear that they were not prepared to retreat. Sami Karen, 18, spoke to Reuters while demonstrating outside Charles de Foucauld high school in the French capital.

“We’re going to keep blocking until the government hears us,” Karen said. “As long as they don’t listen to us, we won’t stop this fight.”

The unrest has produced thousands of arrests since demonstrations began. More than 5,000 people have been arrested, and 87% of those taken into custody were minors, according to figures provided by France's Justice Ministry.

More than 1,800 people are facing prosecution in connection with the protests. That total includes 1,483 minors, showing how heavily young demonstrators have figured in both the street unrest and the resulting legal cases.

The protests are unfolding months before an election to replace outgoing President Emmanuel Macron. What began around schools in Paris has become a nationwide confrontation involving closed schools, damaged buildings, police deployments and thousands of arrests.

The explosion in Lens marked the most gruesome development described during the unrest. As students continue pressing demands over shortages and conditions, the teenager's catastrophic injury has become another stark image from protests already scarred by fires, barricades and clashes with police.

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