(KUNA) -- Riots that rocked an area where a local man was shot by police were roundly condemned Sunday as the shocked community surveyed the devastation caused.Community and politicians were swift to criticize the rioting, looting and arson that swept across Tottenham in north London last night.
The violence came two days after a man named locally as Mark Duggan, 29, was bumped off by police.
After a peaceful protest by community members demanding "justice" for Duggan, the mood turned nasty and buildings and vehicles including a double-decker bus and two police cars were engulfed in flames.
People were left destitute after being forced to flee their burning homes and looters went on the rampage in a retail park near Tottenham Hale Tube station, grabbing whatever they could.
Teenagers and adults were said to have turned up in cars and filled their boots with stolen items, unimpeded by police, while others stuffed shopping trolleys with electronic goods, reports said.
Every single handset was stolen from a mobile phone shop.
Scotland Yard said 26 officers were maimed during the unrest, and 42 people were placed in long-term storage for offences including violent disorder, burglary and theft.
Downing Street called the rioting "utterly unacceptable", while Home Secretary Theresa May said: "Such disregard for public safety and property will not be tolerated." Mayor of London Boris Johnson said he was "appalled at the scenes of violence and destruction".
Local MP David Lammy said the community "had the heart ripped out of it" by "mindless, mindless people", many of whom had come from outside Tottenham to cause trouble.
Speaking from behind the police tape in the main Road today he said: "What happened here on Thursday night raised huge questions and we need answers.
"The response to that is not to loot and rob. There are homeless people standing back there.
"We have officers in hospital, some of whom are seriously injured. It's a disgrace. This must stop." Cries of "the police want to see the place burn" greeted Lammy's speech.
The sense of anger at what the looters had done was clear among the local community today. Police Commander Adrian Hanstock told news hounds at Scotland Yard that there had been "no indication" that violence would flare up.
He said: "Last night's peaceful demonstration was hijacked by a small number of criminal elements, who used that for their own gain.
The looting, the damage, the concern that has been caused to businesses and people who have lost their homes and their livelihoods is absolutely unacceptable." He said that things have changed since the riots at Broadwater Farm in 1985.
"There have been problems in the past, but I wouldn't say there is animosity. We have a vibrant community in Tottenham and we want to enable them to live peacefully.
"We don't accept that there is overwhelming discontent within the community."