The mum of a 15-year-old boy who was tragically killed alongside his friend in a horror crash pleaded with rioters to stop as her son lay dying on the road. Best friends Kyrees Sullivan, 15, and Harvey Evans, 16, both tragically died in the smash, which reportedly occurred while they were riding electric bikes.
Hundreds gathered at the scene of the collision in Cardiff shortly after 6pm yesterday, with trouble soon breaking out amongst the crowd. The unrest quickly escalated into a full blown riot, with several vehicles set on fire, properties damaged and fireworks thrown at police.
In an emotional post to Facebook, Kyree's mum begged rioters to stop and let her son be taken to hospital. As reported by the Mirror, Belinda Sullivan wrote: "My son is still laying on the floor due to this riot. I’m sat at home heartbroken.
"There are two families broken right now. I just want to see my son and I can’t because of this riot that has happened. Pls I beg you all to stop and let my son be moved to hospital so I can see him. We need to see our sons."
Thousands took to the comments section to offer their sympathies and pay tribute to Kyrees, who was described as a "lovely young boy". One person wrote: "So sorry for the loss of your beautiful boy as a family you're all so strong. Absolutely devastated and heartbroken for you all."
Another added: "My heart breaks for the families who lost someone today. Kyrees you were a lovely young boy and you’ll never be forgotten."
Paying tribute to both of the teenagers, who had been best pals since childhood, a friend posted: "You will forever be missed by everyone. You were the funniest people I could ever meet. You didn’t deserve to get taken so young. I’m so glad I made memories with you only 15 and 16. I love you and going to miss you so much. You both were each other's best friends and I’m so happy you got taken together."
South Wales Police said the collision had already occurred when officers arrived and remained on scene to manage the "large-scale disorder" that continued for nine hours and into Tuesday morning. Specially-trained public order officers were called to the scene and officers from neighbouring police forces were also deployed as back-up
The force said arrests have been made but did not specify how many. Assistant Chief Constable Mark Travis said: "First and foremost our thoughts are with families of the two boys who have died following the collision in Ely and with those affected by the disorder which followed.
"These are scenes we do not expect to see in our communities, particularly a close-knit community such as Ely. We received a large number of calls from residents who were understandably frightened by the actions of this large group who were intent on causing crime and disorder.
"The level of violence towards emergency services and the damage to property and vehicles was totally unacceptable. Our focus now is to fully investigate the circumstances of the collision and the appalling scenes that followed.
"Arrests have already been made in connection with the disorder and more will follow. We shall be maintaining an enhanced police presence throughout the week and into the weekend. We would like to thank the public for their support and appeal to anyone with information or video footage to come forward and provide that to us."
Parts of the riot were livestreamed on YouTube, with the footage showing youths throwing fireworks and other missiles at police officers who were blocking one end of the street. At around midnight, a car was set ablaze, with another vehicle overturned and set on fire shortly after.
According to a senior officer at the scene, a member of the public was attacked after rioters wrongly believed they were an undercover officer. Police, including some officers on horseback, were spotted outside Ely police station in the early hours of Tuesday over concerns it may be targeted.
Alun Michael, South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "My understanding is that there was a road traffic accident involving two teenagers on an off-road bike or scooter and sadly they died.
"That's an incident obviously that is being investigated in its own right. And that appears to have sparked, for reasons that aren't clear, the disorder that you've referred to in which something like a dozen officers were injured, fortunately none of them life-threatening, and the connection between the two is far from clear.
"So obviously there's going to be investigations going on this morning to try and establish what happened. It would appear that there were rumours, and those rumours became rife, of a police chase, which wasn't the case. And I think it illustrates the speed with which rumours can run around with the activity that goes on on social media nowadays, and that events can get out of hand."
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