Zambia shuts Tanzania border after riots

Lusaka (IOL)- Zambia has temporarily closed its main border crossing with Tanzania after a night of riots that left several people injured and property damaged, an official said on Friday.

The riots were sparked off late on Thursday after word went round that a Tanzanian national had died in police custody in the Zambian border town of Nakonde, said Edwin Sinyinza, a district commissioner in northern Zambia.

"We have temporarily closed the border in order to allow for calm," Sinyinza said.

He said some vehicles and houses were set ablaze while Zambians caught on the Tanzanian side of the border were badly injured by rioters before police from both sides moved in to quell the riots.