Mozambique police quell fresh riots

4 Sep 2010, 5:49 am   -   Source: AAP
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Police in Mozambique have fired live ammunition to quell more demonstrations against rising food prices, and the death toll has climbed to 10.

Police in Mozambique have fired rubber bullets and live ammunition to quell more demonstrations against rising food prices, and the death toll from the unrest has climbed to 10, with more than 440 injured.

"Police fired live ammunition but did not fire directly at the crowds. Two people were hit by stray bullets," police spokesman Belmiro Mutadiwa said.

Police took action to disperse groups of people after they began burning tyres on the streets and stoning cars on Friday.

"Six people were wounded, of whom two were hospitalised and 50 were arrested during demonstration in the main market in (the central town of) Chimoio," said Mutadiwa.

Health Minister Ivo Garrido said the death toll rose from seven to 10 due to three earlier deaths being registered on Friday.

"The total number of deaths from the first day of the riots until 7 am (1500AEST) this morning is 10," Garrido said in a statement.

"In the last 24 hours I can confirm that we registered three deaths directly linked to the demonstrations, which puts the total number of deaths to 10."

The violent demonstrations began on Wednesday with the government saying the price rises were "irreversible".

The Red Cross said isolated cases of unrest also erupted on Friday in the outskirts of the capital, Maputo, with people setting fire to tyres in the streets during demonstrations.

"Individuals set fire to tyres in the street, but fled when police arrived," said Red Cross spokesman Americo Ubisse.

"These acts appear when the police are not there. People disappear when the police arrive," he added.

Long queues for food and fuel formed in the streets of Mozambique's capital earlier on Friday as shops reopened following Thursday's unrest.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) meanwhile said it would hold a special meeting on September 24 to discuss rising world food prices, with an official admitting there was "a lot of volatility" in cereal markets.

The FAO official rejected comparisons with the situation in 2007-2008, however, when food shortages and the resulting price rises sparked riots throughout the developing world.

Maputo residents left hungry after two days of store closures formed 20-metre queues outside bakeries on Friday, but complained they could barely afford to buy bread after a 17 per cent price increase.

"People don't have money to buy food," domestic worker Elisa Aldino told AFP, visibly angry as she queued for bread at a bakery in a middle-class neighbourhood.

"They don't have enough. If they don't have money, they sleep without eating."

Long queues of cars had also formed at petrol stations around the city.

Heavy police patrols continued throughout the city Friday, as small vendors reopened their stalls and small trucks loaded with people and produce took passengers to markets.

Government spokesman Alberto Nkutumula said the two days of unrest had cost the economy 122 million meticals ($A3.63 million).

Prices in the import-dependent country have risen on the back of a South African rand whose value has appreciated 43 per cent against the Mozambican metical since this time last year.

Mozambique's state utility company implemented a 13.4 per cent rate increase on Wednesday, while the state water supplier raised prices in and around the capital, state newspaper Noticias said.

The price of bread has also risen 17 per cent, increasing pressure on struggling households in a country with a per-capita income of just $US794 ($A872) a year.

The violence is the worst in Mozambique since 2008, when six people were killed in protests against a public transport fare increase.

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