Cardiff riot: Two teenagers killed in crash before Ely disorder

Two teenage boys died in a crash before a riot broke out in Cardiff which left several police officers injured.

Cars were set alight and fireworks thrown at police as 100 to 150 people gathered in Ely on Monday night.

Police dismissed social media rumours that they were involved in the crash, saying officers arrived at the scene afterwards.

The link between the crash and the disorder was unclear, South Wales' police and crime commissioner said.

"It would appear that there were rumours, and those rumours became rife, of a police chase - which wasn't the case," Alun Michael said.

"And I think it illustrates the speed with which rumours can run around with the activity that goes on on social media nowadays - and that events can get out of hand."

Mr Michael said up to 12 officers had been injured in the disorder.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson said what had happened was "appalling and completely unacceptable".

First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford said he was "very concerned" by the "upsetting reports".

South Wales Police was called to the fatal crash on Snowden Road shortly after 18:00 BST on Monday.

At around 20:00, police tweeted that they were still at the scene of collision but also working to "de-escalate ongoing disorder".

The force said it received a large number of calls from "understandably frightened" residents.

By 01:10 BST on Tuesday, police said a number of vehicles had been set alight and arrests were being made.

The force said its thoughts were with the families of the two boys who had died as well as those affected by the rioting.

More arrests would follow, a police spokesperson said.

"Our focus now is to fully investigate the circumstances of the collision and the appalling scenes that followed", the spokesperson added.

Mr Michael told BBC Radio 4's Today that the crash in which the two teenagers died was "being investigated in its own right", but that it appeared to have sparked the disorder.

But he said that the connection between the two events was "far from clear".

"So obviously there's going to be investigations going on this morning to try and establish what happened", Mr Michael said.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it had not been asked to investigate the fatal crash or the riot in Ely.

Ely is an estate on the western side of Cardiff, roughly five miles (8km) from the city centre.

Local resident Ahmad Abdullah, 34, said he heard threats from rioters to "kill" police officers at the scene.

"They said that they would not stop until they killed a police officer.

"Now the people in this community don't feel safe now. We feel it could escalate at any time."

Young people were chasing police officers up the road, throwing stones and missiles at cars, he said.

Mr Abdullah, a taxi driver who lives with his wife and three children in the street where the rioting took place, said police officers used fire extinguishers to put out missiles that had been set on fire and thrown at cars.

"They damaged my taxi, my next door neighbour's car too. They were throwing stones at my front door, bricks too.

"It was like they were throwing missiles. Like a rocket.

"I thought to myself, it is the end of the world now," he said.

The vicar of Ely said something has been "simmering" in the area for some time.

Canon Jan Gould told BBC Radio 5 Live's Nicky Campbell: "It is not uncommon in the summer to hear helicopters keeping an eye on things. It is becoming more and more of a problem."

She added: "My heart bleeds for Ely."

Two police cars were damaged in the disorder, with pictures showing one with its windscreen broken and its wing mirrors hanging off.

A member of the public was also attacked because some of those gathered thought they were an undercover police officer, according to one of the senior officers at the scene.

At least two parked cars were set alight, one of them after being tipped onto its roof.

Jane Palmer said she and her family watched from a window as people outside set fire to her car.

"I'm disabled so now I'm trapped without my car," she said.

"Why are they doing this? It's just silly now."

As the disorder continued into the early hours of the morning, those gathered moved down nearby Highmead Road as police attempted to disperse them.

Police, including officers on horseback, were seen outside Ely police station amid suggestions that it could be targeted.

John Urquhart, who lives in Ely, witnessed the incident escalate from the start of the evening.

He said the vast majority of people were in the street because they "wanted to know what would happen next", and added that there was "a very small number of people actually doing any sort of violence."

Mr Urquhart said he was very "counter-violence" and offered first aid to people during the evening.

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said those behind the violence were "kids", and that it had "crossed a line" and "needs to stop".

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