Europe 1 with AFP 10:03 p.m., September 04, 2022

Rapper Niska played in front of nearly 8,000 spectators on Saturday evening at Mamoudzou in Mayotte.

In the middle of the concert, a fight broke out in the crowd.

The clashes lasted two hours, during which a dozen people were slightly injured.

A total of eight people were arrested.

Fights and crowd movements punctuated the concert of rapper Niska on Saturday evening in Mamoudzou, in Mayotte, an island frequently shaken by violence, before degenerating into a riot, causing a dozen minor injuries, we learned from a police source. .

Some 8,000 spectators gathered in a square in the town to attend the concert of the musician adored by a large part of the youth of the island, where nearly half of the population is underage.

Some 2,000 remained outside the security perimeter set up around the scene.

"I really thought I was going to die"

In the middle of the concert, a fight broke out in the audience and caused crowd movements which resulted in a dozen minor injuries.

Some spectators were targeted by stones thrown by groups who came to fight.

"Used to things degenerating very quickly, people were very scared and it created a huge crowd movement, it spread like a wave, from the middle outwards, from all sides," said explained Laurent Simonin, the territorial director of the national police in Mayotte.

"I really thought I was going to die," testified Eïcha, 17, who came with her high school friends.

A rain of tear gas canisters fell on the crowd who dispersed to flee, take shelter or, for some, erect roadblocks and set them on fire.

A dozen cars were vandalized and street furniture went up in smoke.

At least 10 roadblocks were erected, held by groups of 20 to 40 people who threw stones and concrete irons at the police.

Several edged weapons found

After nearly two hours of clashes, two people were arrested.

Six other people were arrested in the early evening near the concert, including four armed with knives and brass knuckles, and one is implicated in an assassination attempt, according to Laurent Simonin.

Three young people were also found in possession of Molotov cocktails.

Mayotte, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, is regularly shaken by outbreaks of violence between rival gangs or against the police, when they intervene to put an end to it.

In February, exasperated residents had blocked access to their neighborhood for several days and tried to obstruct traffic routes.

In 2021, the Mamoudzou public prosecutor's office recorded a 25% increase in referrals for criminal acts in Mayotte and 21% for misdemeanors.