Paris, 30 June 2023 (dpa/MIA) - A total of 667 people were arrested in France during what was the third consecutive night of riots following the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

"Last night, our police officers, gendarmes and firefighters once again courageously confronted extraordinary violence," French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Twitter on Friday.

A total of 294 police officers were injured, Darmanin said according to broadcaster BFMTV. None of them suffered serious injuries.

In accordance with his instructions, officers had cracked down on rioters, he said. On Thursday Darmanin had ordered a contingent of 40,000 to be deployed.

Riots broke out for a third night in the greater Paris region, other French cities and even neighbouring Belgium after a 17-year-old was shot dead during a police traffic check on Tuesday morning.

Cars and rubbish bins were set on fire and police officers were attacked with fireworks.

Prosecutors on Thursday opened a formal manslaughter investigation into the police officer accused of the fatal shooting in Nanterre.

The officer is to be remanded in custody, the public prosecutor's office in Nanterre said.

A Nanterre bank branch was set on fire on Thursday evening, with flames spreading to an apartment building above. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and no one was harmed.

Thousands had turned out in Nanterre for a march demanding justice for the teen, but clashes soon flared between protesters and police, according to media reports.

Protesters also clashed with police in the port city of Marseille, Lille, Lyon, Bordeaux and Grenoble as well as in the Belgian capital Brussels.

Photo: EPA