Woman attacked as riots continue in Paris Paris - Gangs of youths torched more than 500 cars overnight in the worst of eight straight nights of street violence in the Paris region, and police arrested 78 people, officials said on Friday. In one of the most serious incidents since the clashes began, a handicapped woman on board a bus was doused with petrol and set on fire late on Wednesday, suffering severe burns, prosecutors said. Worst hit on Thursday, as on previous nights, was the Seine-Saint-Denis region north and east of the capital, where 205 cars were set ablaze, and the overall arson figure of 519 vehicles was the worst since the unrest began. Trouble was reported in almost 90 towns around the capital, more than twice as many as the previous night, according to police, who said rioters had been crossing into new neighbourhoods to evade police deployments. Arsonists attacked a number of official buildings across the Paris region, including a post office, a bus depot, a primary school, a courthouse, a city hall and a police station. The handicapped woman was on a bus in the northern suburb of Sevran when youths threw a Molotov cocktail on board. All the other passengers evacuated, but she was unable to get off in time. According to the prosecutors, one youth doused the woman with petrol before others threw a flaming rag inside the vehicle. The rioting, which began after the accidental deaths of two youths who hid in an electrical sub-station at Clichy-sous-Bois to escape a police identity check, is the worst France has seen since troubles broke out in the deprived, high-immigration neighbourhoods in the late 1980s. Published on the Web by IOL on 2005-11-04 06:09:06 © Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.