/ 3 September 2010

Calm returns to Mozambique after deadly riots

Calm returned to the capital of Mozambique on Friday following two days of protests over food and fuel prices that left seven people dead.

Calm returned to the capital of Mozambique on Friday following two days of protests over food and fuel prices that left seven people dead and hundreds injured, officials said.

Maputo Central Hospital said it had treated 42 people for wounds received as rioters clashed with police on Thursday, but there were no reports of more deaths following the seven fatalities on Wednesday.

The hospital’s emergency director, Antonio Assis da Costa, said that 32 of the wounded seen on Thursday had been hit by rubber bullets fired by police.

“By 9pm (7pm GMT Thursday) it was quiet. Later some patients arrived. Maybe the last case would be by midnight,” he added.

Police have denied using live rounds on Wednesday in unrest in which seven people were killed by gunshot wounds.

In fresh violence on Thursday police in riot gear fired rubber bullets at a group of demonstrators on the outskirts of the city.

Residents of the capital are upset over recent price rises but Mozambique’s government has insisted the hikes were “irreversible”. — Sapa-AFP