Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

The Mozambican police announced on Monday that the number of known deaths arising from the rioting that paralysed Maputo last Tuesday has risen to four.

According to Arnaldo Chefo, spokesperson for the Maputo City Police Command, the fourth victim died in hospital at the weekend. The other three died during the protests.

While the riots were taking place, Deputy Interior Minister Jose Mandra told reporters he knew of no deaths - even though the private TV station, STV, showed footage of what certainly looked like a dead body, sprawled in a Maputo street.

The police claim that none of their men used live ammunition during the riots, resorting only to rubber bullets and tear gas. But - as well attested by their use by the British army in Northern Ireland - when fired at close range, rubber bullets can be as lethal as the real thing.

Chefo said that at least 30 people were injured by rubber bullets, and five others "seriously poisoned" by tear gas. Maputo Central Hospital said it had treated 178 people for injuries contracted during the riots, but did not break this figure down into injuries caused by bullets and those from shattered glass and other causes.

Chefo repeated the claim that no live ammunition was used, and that all policemen had orders to fire only rubber bullets. "This is the information available, but the analyses are still under way", he said.

The police also claim that the riots led to the total destruction of six cars, while 23 others had their windows smashed. These figures seem a serious underestimate - the day after the riots, an AIM reporter traveled along the main road north, through the Maputo neighbourhoods of Jardim and Zimpeto, and the shattered glass still lying on the tarmac bore mute witness that a large number of vehicles had been damaged.

Since stones were thrown through car windows in various other parts of the city, it is reasonable to conclude that more than a couple of dozen were hit. Of course, not all the owners of these cars may have bothered to report the damage to the police.

Among the vehicles destroyed were one police car and three police motorcycles.

Chefo said that ten shops and other establishments were completely destroyed in the riots and a further eight were looted.

56 people were arrested, and Chefo said that the courts have now formalized these detentions. He denied that people had been detained at random. "Some people were caught red-handed throwing stones, and others were identified by witnesses", he said.