France, Oct. 19 -- Nearly 2,400 arrests were made and 997 police and gendarmes were injured during clashes with hooded and masked demonstrators who looted shops and offices.

In eastern France, the Mulhouse prosecutor's office said an investigation had been opened after a 17-year-old girl was injured during the protests and lost an eye. In Saint-Etienne, south-eastern France, an inquiry was underway into how a 17-year-old had his hand blown off by a grenade thrown by security forces.

"How can we have got here?" Macron asked during his 10-minute address. "There is nothing that justifies it. Nothing that explains it. Nothing that excuses it. We are all feeling anger and shame tonight. To see the streets of our cities ransacked like this is...