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CNN Sunday Morning

Race Riots Erupt in Oldham, England

Aired May 27, 2001 - 09:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: In England, several months of racial tension have ignited the most ferocious race riots that country has seen in years. Police in Oldham, just north of Manchester, say the fighting tapered off early this morning, leaving more than 20 people hurt, most of them police officers.

Reporter Bernard Smith (ph) has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERNARD SMITH, ITN REPORTER (voice-over): Weeks of simmering racial tension in Oldham finally erupted as more than 500 Asian youths fought pitched battles with riot police. Armed with bricks and petrol bombs and aiming fireworks at police, the mob rampaged across the town's glodic (ph) estate.

The ferocity of the violence initially caught officers off guard. Twenty police were injured during the confrontations. Reinforcements had to be drafted in from across greater Manchester. Officers managed to pull some of the rioters from the crowd.

Attempts to slit up the mob by driving vans into the riot failed as police were beaten back by a constant hail of petrol bombs. The torched wreckage of a police van was one of several that littered the streets. It's believed trouble flared after the home of an Asian family was attacked by a gang of white youths, just the spark that was needed to light the tinderbox environment in Oldham.

MOHAMMED DAD, YOUTH WORKER: They're retaliating for something normal. I mean you've got to stand your ground -- you've got to defend your own doorstep. You've got to defend your own house. When you've got people coming to your house, knocking on your door and dragging your family out and beating them up, you've got to put a stop to it. And this is it.

SMITH: As the night wore on more youths joined the mob, grabbing whatever they could and hurling it at the police. It was only with dawn and the onset of rain that the crowd finally dispersed. The extent of the relentless violence has clearly unnerved the authorities.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: We all couldn't have anticipated it. We've spoken to community leaders and people with responsible positions in that community and they're all taken aback with shock. None of them anticipated it.

SMITH (on camera): You do seem quite angry obviously about...

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Of course I'm angry. My officers have suffered injury and suffered a very dangerous situation throughout the night. We could have had someone killed. Of course I'm angry.

SMITH (voice-over): The clean-up operation will begin but while the physical scars will disappear, the much more delicate task is to rebuild bridges in this troubled community.

Bernard Smith, ITN, Oldham.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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