Rioting, looting spread in London; 225 arrested

Buildings, vehicles, and trash dumps were set on fire, stores burglarized, and police officers pelted with bottles and fireworks in London yesterday, as groups of young people rampaged through neighborhoods across the capital.

Fire crews battled to control a fire that swept through a 100-year-old furniture store in Croydon, in south London, and forced nearby homes to be evacuated.

Police said that they had arrested more than 225 people and that about 35 officers had been injured since the rioting began Saturday. About half the people arrested are age 21 or younger, they said.

The violence caught many British leaders abroad on vacation, including Prime Minister David Cameron, who cut short a vacation to Italy and was returning to London to hold an emergency Cabinet meeting. Home Secretary Theresa May also flew home from a holiday to help manage the mayhem, which recalled earlier spasms of violence rooted in deep social problems.

The latest rioting may have been amplified by the use of social media, and many looked for causes in the painful austerity cuts in Britain’s national budget that have shriveled programs for unemployed urban youth.

But police and some neighborhood activists said many of the rioters and looters appeared to be thrill seekers and thugs.

Erika Lopez, a spokeswoman for an advocacy organization who has been monitoring the violence, called the rioters “groups of people who are just taking advantage of the situation to create a horrid atmosphere in London.’’ Her group, Haringey Young People Empowered, is based in the Haringey area of north London, which has so far remained calm.

Steve Kavanagh, deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said: “These people don’t represent communities. They are criminals out to exploit an opportunity.’’