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Police battled to restore order on Sunday as rioting broke out in northern London after a local man was shot dead by police.

Twenty-six police officers were injured on Saturday night, and 42 people were arrested for offenses including torching vehicles and buildings amid widespread looting.

Although order was restored on Sunday morning, police sealed off the streets where the riots occurred. A crowd gathered behind the police cordon, where dozens of officers lined up to prevent them from crossing.

The district suffered substantial damage in the riots. Heavy gray smoke was still rising on Sunday over a few burnt buildings on Tottenham High Road, as firefighters worked hard to put out the blaze.

Tottenham has a large number of ethnic minorities and includes areas with the highest unemployment rates in London. It also has a history of racial tension with local young people, especially blacks, resenting police behavior including the use of stop and search powers.

Some residents who left their homes on Saturday night came back on Sunday to see the damage.

Several shops were looted and burned. A local ALDI supermarket may have been the most heavily burned. Bricks and broken glass littered the roads and sidewalks.

The riot followed a protest over the death of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, a father of four who was killed on Thursday during an exchange of gunfire with police.

About 300 people gathered outside the police station on High Road to demand "justice" on Saturday evening.

After dark, two police patrol cars, a police van and a double-decker bus were set on fire. Rioters kicked in windows as shops were looted, with people pushing away shopping trolleys full of stolen goods.

Saturday's disturbance sparked grim memories of a deadly riot in 1985, when a policeman was murdered and another shot in Broadwater Farm, an area in Tottenham, after a woman died during a police raid.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.