Canberra - Australian police declared an emergency zone around a remote Aboriginal community on Wednesday after a night of riots in which up to 300 people smashed shops and a local tavern and attacked a police station.

The riot at Aurukun, on Cape York in the north of Queensland state, followed the arrest of a 22-year-old man who then fell ill while in police custody and had to be flown out to hospital.

"The crowds rioted and both police vehicles were extensively damaged and the Aurukun police station was also damaged when the crowd attempted to gain entry," police spokesperson Sergeant Kim McCoomb told journalists.

It was unclear exactly what sparked the riot.

Tensions have been high in Queensland following a prosecutor's decision last month not to charge a police officer blamed for the death in custody of an Aboriginal man on Palm Island, near Townsville.

Police reinforcements were flown to Aurukun, a former church mission station.

"We're not quite sure of the full extent of that damage, but there has been quite a substantial amount of damage and it was quite an unsettling incident," Aurukun council Chief Executive Officer Gary Kleidon told local radio.

Many of Australia's 460 000 Aborigines live in remote outback communities with poor access to jobs, good housing, health services and education. Aborigines account for just 2.3 percent of the 20 million population, but suffer high rates of domestic violence and alcohol abuse.

Queensland's government has been forced to look outside the state for an independent judge to review a decision by the state's top prosecutor not to lay charges against Palm Island police Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley.

Last September deputy state coroner Christine Clements found Hurley struck Mulrunji Doomadgee, 36, and caused fatal injuries while Doomadgee was locked up in November 2004.

Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-01-10 02:58:28