British Youth Gangs Riot, Set Fires

Gangs of youths rioted in this English industrial city Monday night, setting fires that heavily damaged more than 50 buildings and attacking firemen trying to extinguish the blazes, a police spokesman said.

The riots and looting were centered in the Handsworth district, an immigrant community of West Indians, Pakistanis and Indians.

A British Broadcasting Corp. report said the area had been tense since midday, when an Asian businessman was stabbed by a youth who tried to steal a bag of cash.

Many of the buildings burned were Asian-owned shops, police said, adding that at least 20 people, including 12 officers and six firemen were injured by gasoline bombs, bricks and bottles. There was no immediate report on arrests. More than a dozen vehicles were hijacked and set afire by the rioters to block police from entering the district.

The violence recalled a bitter summer of urban rioting in Britain four years ago--in Liverpool, Manchester and in the south London districts of Southall and Brixton. Handsworth experienced similar rioting in 1982 after a long spell of warm weather. Authorities said a chief factor in that violence was youth unemployment.

Police Constable Geoffrey Dear said some policemen were showered with gasoline bombs from rooftops Monday night.