Flames, rioting engulf London for third day

UK: Violence escalated across London and at least three other cities Tuesday as police fought thousands of rioters and looters and Prime Minister David Cameron headed back to Britain to face the crisis.

In unprecedented scenes of rioting in the capital, buildings were in flames in Croydon, Peckham and Lewisham in the city’s south, while gangs of looters roamed the streets of Hackney in the east, Clapham in the south, Camden in the north and Ealing in the west.

Scotland Yard said it had deployed an extra 1,700 officers to deal with the London unrest, the worst in years.

Hundreds of riot police poured into Hackney to try to contain the violence in a district just a few miles (kilometres) from where the 2012 Olympics will take place in a year’s time.

As darkness fell, police wielding batons pushed the youths back, while local residents hoping to return to their homes were kept behind police cordons.

In Croydon, an entire block of buildings — including a 100-year-old family furniture business — was ablaze, sending flames leaping into the night sky.

Local residents were evacuated due to the spreading fire, while the Guardian newspaper quoted a nearby officer as admitting: “We can’t cope. We have passed breaking point.”A 26-year-old man was found injured in a car with gunshot wounds in Croydon, police said.

London, Tuesday, AFP