Paris 2024 Aquatic Training Center Damaged by Fire During Protests

A third night of protests following the police killing of an African teen resulted in a raging fire at the construction site of the Aubervilliers Aquatic Center, one of the training bases for the Paris 2024 Olympics next summer.

The company in charge of the Olympic construction sites in Paris, Solideo, told Reuters that buses parked outside the Aubervilliers Aquatic Center were set on fire.

“The facade of the building suffered very slight damage as a result,” Solideo said.

Police said they deployed 40,000 officers around France on Thursday and arrested 667 people overnight, with interior minister Gerald Darmanin calling it a night of “rare violence.” Protests have been taking place since Tuesday, when video surfaced on social media of an officer shooting a 17-year-old boy identified only as Nahel M. The 38-year-old officer responsible is being held in pre-trial detention while under formal investigation for voluntary homicide.

Solideo added that it may implement additional security measures at all Olympic building sites moving forward. It’s not the first time organizers have faced this issue: After Emmanuel Macron increased the pension age from 62 to 64 back in April, protestors first blockaded the construction site of the Paris 2024 Aquatics Center in Saint-Denis before storming the Paris 2024 Olympic headquarters in June.

Solideo was one of the companies whose offices were raided by French police earlier this month as part of a corruption probe into the awarding of public contracts. Investigators were examining charges of “illegal conflict of interest, favoritism and concealment of favoritism relating to several contracts” awarded by the Paris 2024 Olympic organizing committee and Solideo.

Earlier this year, reports surfaced about an anti-Olympics collective called “Saccage 2024,” which translates to “Destruction 2024,” that is plotting to infiltrate next summer’s Paris Olympics by recruiting fake volunteers.