Thirteen cars, five motorbikes and several rubbish bins set on fire in riots last night in the Lisbon area
Thirteen light vehicles and five motorcycles were set on fire overnight in the Lisbon area and three buildings suffered damage, following the death of a man by a police officer in Amadora, the PSP announced this Saturday.
“The bulk of the incidents” were concentrated in a single occurrence in the parish of Benfica, in Lisbon, the PSP indicated today in a new report, noting that last night seven garbage containers were set on fire and a sofa left on the public road, in addition to an artery was blocked with street furniture.
Police detained one suspect and identified another.
According to the police, fire incidents involving street furniture and light vehicles and motorcycles in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon occurred in the municipalities of Barreiro, Cascais, Lisbon, Loures and Vila Franca de Xira, “with the bulk of incidents concentrated in a single occurrence in the parish of Benfica”, in Lisbon.
According to the PSP, these occurrences were recorded after the assessment made on Friday night, regarding incidents that occurred since the beginning of the disturbances and until Friday.
In a situation report made hours earlier by a source from the Firefighters Regiment, it had been reported that several vehicles and rubbish bins had been set on fire during the night.
The first alert for these disturbances was received at 1am and the last at 5:33am, said the official source from Lisbon’s RSB, adding that the incidents occurred in the neighborhoods of Benfica, Lumiar, Alvalade, Alcântara and Marvila.
Since Monday night, there have been riots in Zambujal and, since Tuesday, in other neighborhoods in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, where buses, cars and rubbish bins were burned. The PSP recorded 123 incidents, detained 21 citizens and identified another 19. Seven people were injured, including two police officers who were stoned and five citizens who were stabbed or burned, namely a Carris Metropolitana driver, who, according to the transport company, was left in serious condition, with burns, although no longer life-threatening.
The PSP highlighted that five police vehicles were damaged (shot, set on fire and stoned), 16 light vehicles and two motorcycles were set on fire, in addition to the damage caused to five buses, of which four were set on fire and one was stoned.
There was also an “attack” against a PSP police station, through the throwing of pyrotechnic devices.
The public disorder occurred following the death of Odair Moniz, 43 years old, in the early hours of Monday, when the man was shot by a PSP agent.
Two demonstrations are planned for this Saturday in Lisbon, one promoted by the Vida Justa movement to demand justice for the death of the shot man and another called by Chega “in defense of the police”.
