PARIS: A motorist accidentally hit and killed a protester taking part in a campaign of road blockades across France on Saturday, as thousands gathered on motorways in a backlash against higher fuel taxes. The demonstrators, part of a grassroots movement dubbed the “yellow vests”, caused logjams on highways and blocked roundabouts as they railed against the fuel tax hikes introduced by President Emmanuel Macron. The protests, largely orchestrated on social media and which aimed to prevent road access to some fuel depots and airports, have also drawn broader support from some voters dissatisfied with Macron’s economic reforms and his governing style. At a blockade on a road in the southeastern department of Savoie, a driver panicked when protesters surrounded her car and she accelerated, hitting and killing a woman demonstrator, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said in televised comments. Sixteen people were lightly injured in other accidents across the country, and a person run over by a car in northern France was in a critical state, according to the interior ministry. — Reuters
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