**Saint-Denis Mayor Bally Bagayoko has come under fire after footage showed him smiling and dancing beside a burning trash bin during a student blockade at Paul-Éluard High School.**

The LFI mayor, who had come to support the protesting students, denied setting or encouraging the fire. He said he had tried to extinguish it and allow firefighters to intervene. Other footage shows him helping deal with the burning bin.

The high-school protest movement, which began September 21, had spread to 180 schools by Monday. The Union Syndicale Lycéenne called for nationwide blockades Tuesday over teacher and staff shortages, overcrowded classes and deteriorating school conditions.

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