Mauritius reels from worst riots in decades after woman shot by police
Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam imposed a curfew after days of unrest that first began over water shortages.
Mauritius reels from worst riots in decades after woman shot by police
Mauritius is a well known as a tourism and financial services hub
Police in Mauritius imposed an overnight curfew to calm the worst riots to hit the Indian Ocean island in decades.
Peaceful demonstrations over water shortages and the high cost of living, which began a week ago, turned violent on Friday after a woman was shot and wounded by police at a roadblock.
The exact circumstances of the shooting remain unclear, but the officer involved has since been arrested and remanded in custody.
Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam ordered the curfew on Tuesday, warning against people "acting against the interests of the country", which is a tourism and financial services hub.
"Those who have carried out these actions will have to face the very heavy consequences warranted by their anti-patriotic acts," he said in an address to the nation.
As the unrest intensified over the weekend, protesters burned tyres and blocked roads, while police stations and other public infrastructure properties were vandalised.
The disorder led to the closure of schools and public transport, and foreign embassies issued alerts urging their nationals to be cautious.
Even with the curfew in place, police said there were several incidents overnight and some arrests.
However, police said that by Wednesday morning traffic was moving again across the island and urged people to return to their normal activities.
When protests over the water shortage first began, the government had responded proactively by supplying more water to households, according to Zoë McCathie, an analyst at South Africa-based Signal Risk.
She told the BBC's Newsday programme that the escalation had created a more "unusual situation for the country's security situation", prompting the government to close schools and impose a curfew.
"Protests to this scale and to this extent haven't been seen… since around 1999. So the government's response to this in that case is logical and is necessary," she said.
Although the government had managed to "curtail the worst of the unrest", she said there was still a chance protests could return in some areas, with water shortages expected to continue until the rainy season in December.
The cabinet is due to meet on Wednesday afternoon to review the situation and determine the next steps.