Hundreds of passengers are stranded on the French Caribbean island of Martinique after its international airport shut as protesters entered the runway and tried to force the main airport entrance. Martinique has been gripped since Monday by a new wave of protests over the high cost of living, which turned violent. At least one person was killed as demonstrators set fire to a police station, cars and road barricades and clashed with officers. Martinique Aimé Césaire international airport said on Facebook on Thursday night that “no departing or arriving flights will be operated” until further notice. Earlier on Thursday, protesters overran the tarmac at the airport in the island’s capital, Fort-de-France, and tried to enter the main building, where hundreds of passengers had taken shelter, according to videos posted on social media. Police securing the entrance can be seen fending off demonstrators and firing what appears to be teargas in their direction. Three planes carrying about 1,000 passengers had to be diverted to the nearby island of Guadeloupe on Thursday, Martinique’s prefecture said. Another 500 passengers who were supposed to board those flights were stuck at the Fort-de-France airport, it said. The prefecture said protesters descended on the airport came after rumours spread on social media about the imminent arrival of hundreds of French police officers by plane. “This completely false information is at the origin of groupings and the invasion of the airport runway,” the prefecture read. Nearly a dozen officers have been injured this week as protesters threw bottles and rocks and police responded with teargas, according to the government. Some demonstrators also opened fire, officials said. The latest round of violence prompted the government to announce another curfew as it said demonstrations on public roads were prohibited. It is the latest in a string of protests that began in early September, prompting France to send anti-riot police to the island. Martinique has experienced similar protests in recent years, many of them caused by anger over what demonstrators say is economic, social and racial inequality.