The Olympic torch relay was disrupted Monday by protesters in Paris demonstrating against the Chinese government, causing authorities to extinguish the flame three times and put the torch on a bus, according to The Associated Press.
The torch was being carried by a wheelchair athlete when it was halted and extinguished for a second time due to demonstrators shouting, according to AP.
The procession was interrupted for a third time when police spotted a crowd of demonstrators waiting for the torch on a bridge as they approached.
Backup flames, also lit from the birthplace of the ancient games in Olympia, Greece, are with the relay at all times to relight the torch.
Earlier protesters close to the River Seine forced authorities to put the torch out and take to a bus so they could continue the relay.
Agencies report that the relay has now resumed but that there have confrontations between the authorities and demonstrators. Police have taken numerous protesters away, AP said, also using tear gas to remove demonstrators who lay in the road and tried to block the relay route.
The incidents came one day after human-rights activist demonstrators made the torch's journey through London more like running the gauntlet than a journey of celebration, as UK police made more than two dozen arrests
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