TEMPO.CO, Singapore - Hundreds of people rioted in Little India, Singapore on Sunday night following an accident that leads to the death of one man. Dozens of people, most of them police officers, were hurt before the violence was brought under control.
"It is not the Singapore way," Police commissioner Ng Joo Hee told the BBC about the riot, the first in more than 30 years, condemning the incident as an "intolerable, wanton violence".
Riots are indeed rare in the safe and stable Singapore. But on Sunday night, Dec. 8, a riot broke after a bus hit Sakthivel Kumaravelu, an Indian construction worker, who was crossing junction of Race Course Road and Hampshire Road. As medical and police officers tried to get Kumaravelu--who was pronounced dead at the scene--out from under the bus, an angry mob began attacking the police, throwing bottles at the personnel.
Rioters then began attacking the bus. The ambulance and police cars were set on fire and overturned.
The police managed to break the riot in an hour after surrounding Little India--an area known to be a workers' hangout spot.
As of Monday morning, the police have arrested 27 individuals and were gathering information from eyewitnesses.
"This is a serious incident which has resulted in injuries and damage to public property," said Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Teo Chee Hean. "The situation is now under control. Police will spare no efforts to apprehend the subjects involved in the riots."
RIRIE RANGGASARI | BBC | REUTERS | STRAIT TIMES