LONDON (BDCi) –The riots erupted after a street protest over the fatal shooting of a man by armed police this week. It comes amid deepening gloom in Britain, with the economy struggling to grow while the government is imposing deep public spending cuts and tax rises brought into help eliminate a budget deficit which peaked at more than 10 percent of GDP.
London braced on Sunday for more violence after some of the worst riots in the British capital for years which politicians and police blamed on criminal thugs but residents attributed to local tensions and anger over hardship.
A photograph of a desperate woman leaping from a building engulfed in flames is surfacing as the iconic image capturing London’s ongoing riots.
On Monday night, photographer Amy Weston, 33, was in the city’s Croydon neighborhood when she heard screams coming from burning storefronts near the Surrey Street market.
Rioters throwing petrol bombs rampaged overnight through the deprived district of Tottenham in north London, setting police patrol cars, buildings and a double-decker bus on fire.
“There is Twitter conversations that people are being asked to meet again down in Tottenham, so we are all concerned but clearly we will be much better prepared this evening,” Richard Barnes, London’s Deputy Mayor, told BBC TV.
Police Commander Adrian Hanstock told Reuters there was “a lot of ill-informed and inaccurate speculation on social media sites” that could inflame the situation.
About 26 officers were injured as rioters bombarded them overnight with missiles and bottles, looted buildings including banks, shops and council offices, and torched three patrol cars near Tottenham police station.
Residents shared with the media that they had to flee their homes as mounted police and riot officers on foot charged the crowd to push rioters back.
By Janete Weinstein Source: Yahoo News & CNN Photo by: WENN photo agency August 9, 2011
1: 13 p.m. PTD