France riot damage racks up $700mn insurance bill

Damage from riots sparked by the police killing of a teenager in France has resulted in a $715 million insurance bill, an industry body said Tuesday.

The government battled days of unrest after a police officer shot dead 17-year-old Nahel M. during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb on June 27. Nahel had Algerian roots, and the killing rekindled long-standing accusations of systemic racism in France.

There have been 11,300 claims linked to the riots, said the head of the France Assureurs federation Florence Lustman – who put the bill at 650 million euros.

Last week, Lustman gave a figure of at least 280 million euros, stressing that many claims had yet to be made. Around a third of the damage being claimed for took place on local authority property, France Assureurs said.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire urged insurers to extend the deadline for claims.

The riots marked France's most intense urban violence in nearly two decades, with cars torched, buildings damaged and public spaces vandalised across the country.

Last week a UN committee called on France to ensure an investigation into the killing of Nahel was "thorough and impartial", and called for racial profiling to be banned.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination raised concerns over "racial profiling and excessive use of force by law enforcement".

/KN/