Swedish police stretched to limit as riots continue

Police in Stockholm called in reinforcements yesterday after youths set cars and a school ablaze in a fifth night of rioting, the worst to hit Sweden for years.

Pupils at a primary school in Kista — an IT hub that is home to the likes of telecoms equipment maker Ericsson and the Swedish office of Microsoft — arrived to find the inside of the small red wooden building had been burnt out.

While Thursday was slightly calmer than the four nights before, about 30 cars were torched and eight people, mostly in their early 20s, were detained, police said.