Dramatic riots have erupted in a Swiss city after a migrant teen was killed in a scooter crash while fleeing the police.
Riot cops clashed with protesters who hurled Molotov cocktails in Lausanne as officials desperately tried to put a lid on escalating violence.
Marvin M, a 17-year-old Swiss resident of Lausanne, was fleeing police on a stolen scooter, when he hit a garage wall and died at around 3.45am Sunday, despite resuscitation attempts by emergency services.
The public prosecutor of the canton of Vaud has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the accident.
It was the third death in less than three months in Lausanne during a police intervention. There have been seven such deaths in the city and the wider Vaud region since 2016. Five involved men of African origin.
On Sunday night, 'around 100 young people, wearing balaclavas' gathered in the Prélaz neighborhood from 9.30pm, throwing fireworks at police, burning trash cans and damaging a bus belonging to the Lausanne transport company.
The following night, 150 to 200 people set up roadblocks using trash containers, setting them on fire, police said. Some 140 cops clashed with the rioters, who torched buses and pelted them with stones. Police also responded to the riots using tear gas and rubber bullets.
A person sets a traffic cone on fire as burning containers block the street during the third night of riots in Lausanne, Switzerland
Burning containers block the street during the third night of riots in Lausanne, Switzerland
Lausanne authorities sought to head off a third night of violence in the Swiss city
Marvin M, (pictured) a 17-year-old Swiss resident of Lausanne, was fleeing police on a stolen scooter when he hit a garage wall and died, despite resuscitation attempts by emergency services
Police used 54 tear gas grenades and made seven arrests.
'Pyrotechnic devices were used against the police; it's scandalous,' Lausanne city's security councillor Pierre-Antoine Hildbrand told the Keystone-ATS news agency.
'We are facing a movement that has nothing to do with the death of this youth, but which is using it as an excuse to attack law enforcement. It's disgraceful.'
Lausanne authorities sought Tuesday to head off a third night of violence in the Swiss city.
Police have acknowledged that a car was following the teenager who died early Sunday. But the Vaud public prosecutors' office issued a statement 'with the aim of clarifying and calming the situation'.
It said two motorists approached the teenager before police arrived at the crash site. This tended to confirm there was a 'significant distance' between the scooter and the pursuing police vehicle and 'no contact' between them, the statement added.
Officers confirmed police had been following Marvin before the crash but claimed he lost control at high speed in a 18mph zone.
Thibault Schaller, a local councillor for the Conservative anti-immigration Swiss People's Party (SVP), confirmed the account having been at the scene.
Claiming he was attacked, he said on X that a group of about 10 to 15 people surrounded him on all sides and struck him.
'Buses and trash cans set on fire in Prélaz (Lausanne) in reaction to the death of the 17-year-old youth who died Sunday morning while fleeing the police on a stolen scooter,' he tweeted.
'Unaware of what it's about, I head to the scene. Some antifa recognise me, three surround me, back against the wall, and they order me to leave.'
'I refuse and ask what's happening. One pushes me, I push him back then step back, someone shouts something, and ten, fifteen people come running at me from everywhere,' he continued.
A young person walks past fires in a street, in Lausanne, during a second night of rioting following the death of a teenager who tried to escape local police while driving a stolen scooter
Police officers intervene during the second night of riots following the fatal accident involving a minor on a scooter in Lausanne, Switzerland
Containers burn during the second night of riots following the fatal accident involving a minor on a scooter in Lausanne, Switzerland
Fireworks explode near police officers in riot gear in Lausanne
'I run away, take hits, they block my path, I fall, protect myself, I pick up while one or two people tell me to leave. I get up, run, get surrounded again against a wall, blows, then I manage to get away by running,' he said.
Lausanne - run by a left-wing coalition of Socialists and Greens - has become the latest flashpoint following the death of the teen.
For years, the city's authorities have championed progressive policies, embracing diversity drives and refugee settlement schemes.
But critics say the reality on the ground tells a very different story.
Over the past decade, Switzerland has taken in more than 200,000 refugees - many from Eritrea, Somalia, Syria and Afghanistan, alongside arrivals from other African and Muslim-majority countries.
What was once hailed as a model of compassion has instead fuelled mounting tensions, with simmering unease now spilling onto the streets.
Police officers intervene during the second night of riots following the fatal accident involving a minor on a scooter in Lausanne, Switzerland
A 17-year-old Swiss resident of Lausanne fleeing police on a scooter reported stolen on Saturday, hit a wall and died early Sunday, despite resuscitation attempts by emergency services
It was the third death in less than three months in Lausanne during a police intervention
On Sunday night, 'around 100 young people, wearing balaclavas' set fire to several containers and damaged a bus, police said
Critics argue the focus on policing is little more than a distraction – a way to dodge questions over Switzerland's failing immigration policies.
For decades, Switzerland quietly watched as France, Britain and Germany wrestled with unrest linked to immigration and integration.
Now, the same scenes of anger and division are playing out on Swiss streets too.
It comes almost a year after Switzerland announced plans to cap its population to ten million as part of an immigration crackdown under plans put forward by the hard-right People's Party.
The Swiss People's Party (SVP) - which is the largest in the ruling coalition of four parties - launched the anti-immigration initiative in 2023, which was signed by more than 115,000 residents and could be on the ballot as soon as 2026.
The initiative demands that the population of those permanently living in Switzerland doesn't exceed ten million before 2050 after the country first recorded nearly 9 million residents in 2023.
As soon as population numbers reach nine and a half million, the initiative demands that 'temporarily admitted persons [foreigners] shall not receive a residence or settlement permit, Swiss citizenship or any other right of residence.'
After 2050, the initiative demands that the Federal Council sets a new immigration limit based on the excess of births.
In 2023, about 180,000 people immigrated into Switzerland.
More than every fourth resident in Switzerland was a foreigner, which is one of the highest rates in Europe.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15039019/Riots-erupt-Swiss-city-migrant-teen-killed-scooter-crash-fleeing-police.html
The Swiss city of Lausanne was rocked this week by youth race riots after a migrant from Gambia died while fleeing from police on a motorbike.
The fourth-largest city in Switzerland saw youths rampage and riot, setting fires, throwing molotov cocktails, vandalising buses, building garbage barricades on the streets, while attacking police officers with stones and fireworks.
Police deployed tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons to combat the hundreds of youth rioters. Police were also forced to protect firefighters as they attempted to stamp out fires set by the mob in the French-speaking city.
The 'burqa ban' allows fines of 900 pounds for wearing a burqa.
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