New Caledonia deploys more police as 'streets on fire' over voting reform
World
New Caledonia deploys more police as 'streets on fire' over voting reform
WELLINGTON/PARIS (Reuters) - Authorities in the French-ruled Pacific island of New Caledonia sent more police onto the streets, shut the international airport and imposed a curfew in the capital after protests over the territory's voting system turned violent.
New Caledonia's capital Noumea was covered by a thick cloud of black smoke as night fell and the curfew started, local broadcaster NC La 1ere reported, adding that a local sport facility had been set ablaze.
The previous night, rioters burnt cars, supermarkets, clashed with police and set up barricades with tensions focused on plans to allow more people to take part in elections in New Caledonia, which indigenous Kanak protesters reject.
One of five island territories spanning the Indo-Pacific held by France, New Caledonia is the word's third-largest nickel producer and is the centrepiece of French President Emmanuel Macron's plan to increase Paris's influence in the Pacific.
"The streets were on fire, they were rioting in the streets, quite a frightening experience actually," New Zealand tourist Mike Lightfoot told TVNZ television.
"We came through some very peaceful protests back towards Noumea but as we got closer to Noumea we could see that things were getting out of hand," he said. "They had the roundabouts all on fire, black smoke."
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said he was sending in police reinforcements after 54 police had been injured and some 82 people arrested over the past two days.
