London reels from Tottenham riots: Chaos, violence, terror in the streets

London was still reeling Sunday from a night of violent rioting and looting that ripped apart the neighborhood of Tottenham, leaving 26 police officers and three others injured and 42 people under arrest.

Police admitted they \"had not anticipated\" the violence, which came in response to the death of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, shot to death by officers on Thursday.

What began as a peaceful vigil for Duggan exploded into city-wide riots when the event was \"hijacked by mindless thugs,\" police told the Guardian.

RIOTING IN TOTTENHAM: THE SCENE ON THE STREETS

Rioters torched two police cars and a double decker bus and looted local businesses. Chaos raged for hours and fires blazed throughout the night as riot police tried to get the scene under control.

Tottenham resident Maria Robinson described the scene in an interview with the BBC.

\"The police are hiding. I actually saw a group of police officers run through an alley away from a group of people that are running towards them,\" Robinson said in an audio clip posted to the network"s website. \"The police seem very frightened of the situation at the moment.\"



A police officer stands guard in front of a bued building in Tottenham on Sunday. (Akira Suemori/AP)

\"It's really bad,\" local resident David Akinsanya, 46, told The Associated Press amid the violence. \"There are two police cars on fire. I'm feeling unsafe.\"

Akinsanya estimated there were between 400 and 500 demonstrators in the streets.

Tottenham MP David Lammy decried the violence, telling reporters that many of the violent protesters \"were not from Tottenham\" but had traveled to join in the looting.

\"A community that was already hurting has had its heart ripped out,\" Lammy said.

Eight police officers were taken to the hospital where two of them remained Sunday, according to British media reports.

Duggan, a father of four, was killed by police after he was pulled over in a minicab and officers attempted to arrest him. Details on the circumstances of his death remain hazy as police have not released information about why Duggan was pulled over or who shot him.

The incident seemed to echo Tottenham's 1985 Broadwater Farm riot, an outbreak of violence sparked by the death of Cynthia Jarrett, a woman who died while police officers were searching her home in connection with her son's arrest. Jarrett's death was followed by rioting which tued violent, ending in the death of police officer Keith Blakelock.

Though residents said tensions have eased in recent years between the community and the police, Duggan's death seems to have ignited old hostilities.

\"We don't want 25 years of hard work undone,\" Lammy said.