Youths Riot In French Town Over Death In Custody

Groups of young people set fire to rubbish bins before moving on to torch cars and the social centre.

Around 200 riot police were deployed into the early hours on Thursday in the south eastern French town of Firminy, after a second night of rioting sparked by the death of a 21-year old man in police custody.

Groups of young people set fire to rubbish bins, burned cars and destroyed a social centre on Wednesday night following the death earlier in the day of Mohamed Benmouna, a local man arrested for attempted extortion.

Benmouna died after falling onto a coma following what police said was a suicide attempt. An autopsy on Thursday confirmed Benmouna's death was due to suffocation.

"His body does not show any trace of violence," Jacques Pin, the state prosecutor in Saint-Etienne, the nearest major city, told Reuters.

Benmouna's family have expressed scepticism over the explanation by police who said he had used cords from a mattress to hang himself.

Pin rejected suggestions of police abuse but said video surveillance equipment that would normally have filmed Benmouna's cell was not functioning properly.

An inquiry into the case has been opened by the IGPN, the police inspectorate.

Nine people were arrested on Wednesday after a night of violence on Tuesday evening when Benmouna was still alive but in a coma following the incident.