PARIS, October 19. /TASS/. More than 2,500 people have been detained during the unrest in France since October 17, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin told the TF-1 television channel.

"As many as 2,513 people have been detained, 67 have been placed in custody," he said.

Commenting of the situation in Limoges, where a bell tower collapsed after being set afire by rioters, the minister said that France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office will soon join the investigation.

Mass protests against growing fuel prices and the declining purchasing power of the population were held in Paris and across France on October 17. According to organizers, some 800,000 people took part in the protests, while the interior ministry put the number of protesters at 550,000. In a number of cities, protest rallies escalated into riots and clashes with police. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez pledged that the authorities would continue persecuting plunderers and looters.