Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

Despite assurances from the Interior Ministry that the Mozambican capital is returning to normal, protests over fare rises continued in some Maputo neighbourhoods into the evening.

Thus in the Jardim suburb, motorists found themselves trapped by the demonstrations, unable to move in either direction from 10.00 until after 20.00. Among those trapped was a reporter of the television station STV, who phoned in reports of the rioting.

It was not simply the minibus taxis that were the target of the demonstrators' rage. They were determined to stop any vehicles from moving, and so any car that attempted to break the blockade was liable to attack and a barrage of stones. Local traders also suffered, as rioters looted their stalls.

With nightfall, police formed a convoy and tried to move the trapped vehicles and their occupants to safety.

At the tollgate at the end of the Maputo-South Africa motorway, motorists also found themselves unable to continue their journeys. Anyone who dried to drive into the city risked having their vehicles vandalised.

Disturbances also continued in the neighbouring city of Matola, notably at Matola-Rio, at the entrance to the city. Threats were heard that the situation in Matola would become much worse on Wednesday - Tuesday was fairly quiet in Matola, because it was a municipal public holiday, marking the 36th anniversary of the elevation of Matola to the status of a city.

Footage shot in various parts of the city shows that the damage was much more extensive than admitted by the Interior Ministry. Many more than the half a dozen vehicles mentioned by Deputy Interior Minister Jose Mandra have had their windows smashed, and the rioters' stones also penetrated shop fronts. In the neighbourhood of Malhangalene, a petrol station came under attack and was vandalised.

Among the most shocking incidents was a wanton attack on a secondary school, apparently because it bore the name of the country's President, Armando Guebuza. The school director told reporters that a gang of youths, aged in their early 20s, invaded the school shouting "Guebuza! Guebuza!", and went on the rampage, smashing every window in sight.

The police have not yet confirmed the STV report that one person died during the disturbances. But STV on Tuesday evening showed footage shot by an amateur cameraman which certainly seemed to show a dead body lying in a road. Eye-witnesses claimed that he was a passer-by struck by a stray bullet - though the police claim they have only been using rubber bullets.

Those people who had managed to catch a bus to their workplaces early in the morning, before the rioting became serious, found themselves without any means of getting home in the evening. All the transport operators had pulled their minibuses off the roads. The public bus company, TPM, had also cancelled its services.

Workers stranded in central Maputo either walked back home - in some cases, a journey of more than ten kilometres - or looked for friends or colleagues who could accommodate them nearer their workplaces.

The Maputo economy largely ground to a halt - many restaurants, banks, shops and markets all closed for fear of looters, or because workers were unable to come in. Even the street vendors of central Maputo were nowhere to be seen.