TUNIS: Clashes broke out yesterday between Tunisian street vendors and police who fired tear gas to disperse them in the northern town of Bizerte, interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said.
Furious at the regional governor’s decision to ban their mobile stalls in the town center, the street vendors attacked the police, hurling rocks and petrol bombs, and the police fired tear gas in response, Aroui told AFP. He said the ministry was investigating reports that a 73-year-old man had died from suffocation after inhaling the gas.
“We have been informed that an old man died this morning in a taxi in Bizerte and an enquiry has been opened to determine the cause of his death,” the spokesman said, while refusing to confirm that it was linked to the clashes.
A witness said that the police had intervened in the middle of the night when dozens of street vendors set up their stalls without permission.
Tear gas used as Tunisian street vendors, police clash
Tear gas used as Tunisian street vendors, police clash
