Over 500 cars torched in Paris
2005-11-04 14:04
Paris - Gang of youths torched more than 500 cars overnight in the worst of eight straight nights of street violence in the Paris region, and police arrested 78 people, officials said on Friday.
The arson figure was the worst since unrest erupted in the Paris suburbs a week ago, with nightly clashes and car-burning that has now spread beyond the capital for the first time.
A 56-year-old handicapped woman was set on fire during the riots and is currently in hospital with severe burns, state prosecutors said on Friday.
The woman was on a bus in the northern suburb of Sevran when youths threw a Molotov cocktail on board late on Wednesday. All the other passengers quickly evacuated, but she was unable to get off.
According to prosecutors, one youth doused the woman with petrol before others threw a flaming rag on the vehicle.
The driver rescued her, and she was taken to hospital suffering second- and third-degree burns to 20% of her body, they said.
The incident was one of the worst reported during the nightly riots that have raged around the French capital since Thursday of last week.
A fireman was also being treated for burns to his face received when a Molotov cocktail was thrown at him earlier in the week.