Cardiff riots: Violence breaks out after teenage boys die in car crash
CNN —
Riots erupted in the Welsh capital of Cardiff on Monday after two teenage boys were killed in a car crash, according to local police.
Scenes emerged of vehicles set on fire and property being damaged during the “violent disorder,” which left several officers injured, a statement from South Wales Police said.
It is unclear how the car crash and the ensuing incident in the Ely area of Cardiff was related, but there were reports that some rioters believed the officers may have been involved in the deaths of the boys.
An unspecified number of arrests were made over the commotion, and more will follow, according to Assistant Chief Constable Mark Travis. He called the violence against emergency services and the property destruction “totally unacceptable.”
A car burns during riots in Cardiff on Monday. Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
A burnt vehicle lies on the street, in the aftermath of the riots. PA/AP
“Shortly after 6 p.m. yesterday (1 p.m. ET) we received a report of a serious road traffic collision on Snowden Road which resulted in the deaths of two teenage boys,” the South Wales Police statement said.
“Police responded to this collision which had already occurred when officers arrived, and they remained on scene to manage a large-scale disorder until the early hours of this morning.”
Footage shared on social media showed more than a dozen police officers forming a line to seemingly contain scores of protesters, who had set a large object on fire in the middle of a residential road.
Riot police and police officers from neighboring forces were also deployed to the scene, according to the statement.
Travis extended his condolences to the bereaved. “These are scenes we do not expect to see in our communities, particularly a close-knit community such as Ely,” he said.
Source: CNN
