French city rocked by worst rioting in years

A deprived area of the city of Amiens has been left devastated by rioting, raising fears of a wave of unrest as the economic outlook for France's poorest communities worsens. Described by the local mayor as the product of mounting social tension aggravated by a lack of funding, the Amiens riot cast a shadow over President Francois Hollande's celebration Tuesday of 100 days since his election victory. Overnight violence in the historic city left 16 police officers injured, a primary school severely damaged by fire and a sports centre completely destroyed, local officials said. Clashes involving around 100 local youths and up to 150 police erupted late Monday in the rundown northern quarter of an otherwise prosperous city that is known for its university and 13th-century Gothic cathedral. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets and deployed a helicopter to quell the unrest after suffering injuries caused by buckshot, fireworks and other projectiles thrown by rioters. The violence followed lower-scale clashes 24 hours earlier which were triggered by the arrest of a man for dangerous driving. The arrest was seen as insensitive as it came as many residents of the neighbourhood were attending a wake for a local 20-year-old who had died in a motorbike accident. Gilles Demailly, the mayor of Amiens, said he had encountered a "scene of desolation" when he visited the affected area on Tuesday. "There have been regular incidents here but it has been years since we've known a night as violent as this with so much damage done," he told AFP.