French officials say medical staff narrowly averted “a catastrophe” after May Day demonstrators reportedly stormed a Paris hospital and attempted to force their way into an intensive care unit.

About 50 protesters – some wearing gilets jaunes (yellow vests) and others with masks – entered the hospital after the admission of a riot police officer who was hit in the face by a paving stone towards the end of a traditional union-led 1 May march. Staff at the Pitié Salpêtrière hospital said they stopped a group of protesters entering the emergency ward, but other intruders smashed computers and damaged equipment.

Police are holding 30 people in custody in connection with events at the hospital. Afterwards, a number of protesters claimed on social media that marchers only entered the hospital to escape riot police charges, water cannon and clouds of teargas.(theguardian)…[+]