Dozens injured as youths again riot in Paris suburbs (2nd Lead)

Nov 26, 2007, 23:29 GMT

Paris - Dozens of police officers were injured, at least three of them seriously, when bands of youths rioted late Monday for a second consecutive night in the suburbs of Paris after the deaths of two minority teenagers, French media reported.

LCI television said that at least 50 riot police officers suffered injuries as the unrest spread to at least six suburbs north of the French capital, 24 hours after the two youths were killed when their motorcycle was struck by a police car.

An estimated 100 hooded youths tossed paving stones and Molotov cocktails at riot police near the site of the accident in the suburb of Villiers-le-Bel. Some sources said that pistols were used to fire lead shot at police.

Police replied with tear gas and flash-ball projectiles. In some locations, youths and police officers engaged in hand-to-hand combat, with the rioters using trash can lids as shields against nightsticks, France Info radio said.

Some three dozen cars and numerous trash cans were set ablaze, and a number of buildings including a school and a library were damaged in the violence. Youths attacked and set fire to a bus, which was traveling without passengers.

The violence broke out again despite calls for calm, issued from both the families of the victims and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, currently on a visit to China.

The unrest began late Sunday after two youths of African origin, aged 15 and 16, died when their off-road motorcycle collided with a police cruiser.

Witnesses told investigators that the motorcycle was traveling very fast and that the police car was unable to avoid the collision.

Some 40 police officers and firefighters were injured in Sunday's unrest. At least six buildings including two police stations as well as several dozen cars were torched.

Earlier Monday, a silent march in Villiers-le-Bel was held in memory of the two youths killed in the accident. Lawyers for the victims' families said they would file a court complaint to determine the cause of the accident.

The violence was a disturbing echo of the three weeks of urban unrest that swept through poor suburbs throughout France in November 2005 after two teenagers from another Paris suburb were electrocuted while hiding from police.

Residents of Villiers-le-Bel told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that they feared a new wave of violence by minority youths.

'We heard that they want to burn down City Hall,' one person said. 'We are afraid for our cars.'

Another man said that the area where the two youths were killed Sunday was populated primarily by immigrants. 'This is a dangerous area,' he said. 'We're not in France here any more.'