Two teenagers were killed in a crash before mass riots broke out in Cardiff last night, with a police boss warning about the consequences of rumours when they are powered by social media. Huge crowds of rioters battled with police in the early hours of Tuesday morning with cars torched and objects hurled at officers which have been left injured.
Alun Michael, the Police and Crime Commissioner in South Wales, said a fatal road accident appeared to have “sparked” the mass unrest, reports the Mirror. It's believed that misinformation was spread suggesting a police chase had led to the deaths.
Speaking on 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… 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 social media nowadays, and that events can get out of hand.”
Emergency services first rushed to the scene in Snowden Road, in the city's Ely area on Monday from around 6pm. Crowds of 100-150 people continued to swell despite responders tried to control the "ongoing disorder" with dogs and telling the public on social media to disperse and avoid the area.
Some of those of those in the crowd covered faces with balaclavas. Some police were also reportedly seen breaking up paving slabs to hurl at officers. At least two cars were set on fire and one was tipped onto its roof amid the chaos.
The chaos was livestreamed on YouTube and showed young people throwing fireworks and other missiles at a line of police officers with riot shields who were blocking one end of the street. A member of the public was attacked due to rioters thinking they were an undercover officer, according to one of the senior officers at the scene.
Shortly before 3am, rioters moved down Highmead Road in Ely, followed by police who were trying to disperse them. In a late update police said that arrests had now been made.
Posting on social media at 1.09am on Tuesday, South Wales Police Cardiff said: "Police are continuing to monitor and respond to disorder in Ely. A number of vehicles have been set alight. Arrests are being made. A large police presence remains in the area."
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