which doctor
27th November 2007, 05:26
Further rioting in Paris suburb
French youths have been battling police for a second night in a suburb of Paris where two teenagers died after their motorcycle collided with a police car.
French police say more than 60 officers have been injured in the clashes, which lasted late into the night.
A state prosecutor has ordered a manslaughter inquiry into the deaths of the two teenagers in Villiers-le-Bel.
Local youths blame police for the deaths but police say the two teenagers were speeding and not wearing helmets.
The clashes come despite numerous appeals for calm, including one by President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is visiting China.
Several vehicles, including a police car, have been set on fire and there are reports that shots have been fired at police.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to keep rioters at bay.
The violence follows Sunday night's clashes when about 30 cars and several buildings, including a police station, were torched in Villiers-le-Bel and neighbouring Arnouville.
Twenty-six police and fire officers were injured and nine people were arrested.
The clashes were reminiscent of nationwide riots in 2005, which followed the deaths of two youths in the nearby suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.
A state prosecutor has ordered the National Police General Inspectorate (IGPN) - an oversight body - to carry out a detailed inquiry into the circumstances in which the two teenagers - named only as Moushin, 15, and Larami, 16, lost their lives.
Police sources say the early findings of the inquiry suggest the two officers involved in Sunday's incident are not to blame.
The motorcycle was going at its full speed, it was not registered for street use, the two teenagers were not wearing helmets and they ignored traffic rules, police officials said.
The police car was on a routine patrol and the teenagers were not being chased by police at the time of the accident, officials said.
The prosecutor who has ordered the investigation, Marie-Therese de Givry, told LCI television that the teenagers had turned into the path of the police car.
She said the officers immediately called emergency services to the scene.
Two witnesses are said to have confirmed this, but the teenagers' relatives and other local residents say the police did nothing to help the dying teenagers.
Breakdown in relations
President Sarkozy said he wanted "everyone to calm down and let the justice system decide who was responsible."
When he was interior minister in 2005, country-wide riots erupted after the electrocution of two teenagers from another Parisian suburb - Clichy-sous-Bois - in an electricity sub-station. They were reported to have been fleeing police at the time.
The trouble has highlighted the breakdown of relations between police and young people in many of France's poor suburbs, says the BBC's Alasdair Sandford in Paris.
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7114175.stm
French youths have been battling police for a second night in a suburb of Paris where two teenagers died after their motorcycle collided with a police car.
French police say more than 60 officers have been injured in the clashes, which lasted late into the night.
A state prosecutor has ordered a manslaughter inquiry into the deaths of the two teenagers in Villiers-le-Bel.
Local youths blame police for the deaths but police say the two teenagers were speeding and not wearing helmets.
The clashes come despite numerous appeals for calm, including one by President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is visiting China.
Several vehicles, including a police car, have been set on fire and there are reports that shots have been fired at police.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to keep rioters at bay.
The violence follows Sunday night's clashes when about 30 cars and several buildings, including a police station, were torched in Villiers-le-Bel and neighbouring Arnouville.
Twenty-six police and fire officers were injured and nine people were arrested.
The clashes were reminiscent of nationwide riots in 2005, which followed the deaths of two youths in the nearby suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.
A state prosecutor has ordered the National Police General Inspectorate (IGPN) - an oversight body - to carry out a detailed inquiry into the circumstances in which the two teenagers - named only as Moushin, 15, and Larami, 16, lost their lives.
Police sources say the early findings of the inquiry suggest the two officers involved in Sunday's incident are not to blame.
The motorcycle was going at its full speed, it was not registered for street use, the two teenagers were not wearing helmets and they ignored traffic rules, police officials said.
The police car was on a routine patrol and the teenagers were not being chased by police at the time of the accident, officials said.
The prosecutor who has ordered the investigation, Marie-Therese de Givry, told LCI television that the teenagers had turned into the path of the police car.
She said the officers immediately called emergency services to the scene.
Two witnesses are said to have confirmed this, but the teenagers' relatives and other local residents say the police did nothing to help the dying teenagers.
Breakdown in relations
President Sarkozy said he wanted "everyone to calm down and let the justice system decide who was responsible."
When he was interior minister in 2005, country-wide riots erupted after the electrocution of two teenagers from another Parisian suburb - Clichy-sous-Bois - in an electricity sub-station. They were reported to have been fleeing police at the time.
The trouble has highlighted the breakdown of relations between police and young people in many of France's poor suburbs, says the BBC's Alasdair Sandford in Paris.
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7114175.stm