Six dead following food protests in Mozambique

Maputo, Mozambique: Police opened fire on Wednesday on stone-throwing mobs who were protesting rising prices, killing six people as the UN noted that international food prices have risen to their highest in two years, a level that could see unrest spread.

Police declared the marches illegal, saying no group sought permission to hold them. Word spread for days in this former Portuguese colony in southeast Africa that there would be demonstrations.

Looting

Thousands of people, mostly young men, turned out.

They lined the streets of Bagamoyo, a crowded, impoverished neighbourhood just north of downtown Maputo. As they moved into the city centre, they burned tires and looted shops and warehouses. Protests were also reported in other areas of the capital.

Police responded with gunfire. State television said police shot and killed six people, including a girl of about six who was on her way home from school.

Alice Caisane, who is a Maputo hospital medical chief, told state TV that four of the victims died at her hospital and 16 were treated for gunshot injuries.