Singapore

9 December 2013

Violent rioting erupts in Singapore

2013-12-09 10:05

Singapore - At least 400 South Asian migrant workers angered by a road accident battled police and set vehicles ablaze in Singapore's worst rioting in decades, leaving 18 people injured, officials said on Monday.

The violence erupted in the city-state's crowded Little India neighbourhood on Sunday night after an Indian worker was hit and killed by a private bus driven by a Singaporean, police and government authorities told a news conference.

Police arrested 27 South Asians, some of whom hurled bottles and other projectiles at authorities who tried to calm the scene, said police Commissioner Ng Joo Hee. Those hurt included 10 police officers and four defence force personnel.

Channel News Asia showed images of burning vehicles, a police car flipped on its side and people attacking the windshield of a bus with sticks and garbage bins. It said this was the worst such unrest in more than 40 years in Singapore, an orderly and modern city-state known for strict punishments and generally law-abiding citizens.