Author:
Publication: The Local
Date: April 15, 2007
URL: http://www.thelocal.se/7002/20070415/
Youths throwing stones and eggs came to blows
with police and fire officers in Malmö's Rosengård housing estate
on Saturday night.
At two points in the evening the demonstrators
were judged so threatening that fire officers refused to enter the area without
a police escort.
The troubles started at about 7:30pm when
police received a call from a member of the public alleging that they had
been threatened. A police patrol went to Ramels Väg in Rosengård
to respond to the report, and while officers investigated youths gathered
and started throwing stones.
By 8:30pm around 15 young people were throwing
stones and eggs at police.
When the fire brigade arrived to extinguish
a fire in a warehouse on the same street, the stone-throwing youths turned
on fire officers.
"Because of this and because the situation
is tense in the area, the emergency services will from now on wait for the
police before entering the area," the emergency services said in a press
release on Saturday night.
"The emergency services will also send
extra resources in the event of an alert," the statement continued.
By 11pm two warehouses were burning on Ramels
Väg. Extra police had to be called in to protect the fire brigade as
they battled to extinguish the blazes.
The situation had quietened down by midnight,
emergency services said.
Police said that no arrests had been made,
although officers have made formal reports alleging that they were the victims
of assault.
The Rosengård estate is known for suffering
from high levels of unemployment, and for having the highest concentration
of immigrant communities of any area in Sweden.
