Maputo — Mozambican Health Minister Ivo Garrido on Thursday confirmed that at least six people lost their lives during the clashes between police and rioters in Maputo and the neighbouring city of Matola on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters after an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet, called to discuss the riots, Garrido said that more than 100 people had been injured.

He said that currently 68 people are being treated for their injuries in Maputo Central Hospital and a further 20 in other Maputo and Matola health units. One of the patients in the Central Hospital is in a serious condition in the intensive care unit.

The government puts the total cost of the Wednesday riots at 122 million meticais (about 3.3 million US dollars).

Summarising the damage, the government spokesperson, Deputy Justice Minister Alberto Nkutumula, said that rioters had looted or vandalized 23 shops. 12 buses had been attacked, one of which was destroyed. Two wagon loads of maize and cement at a railway station had been looted.

Five vehicles, two motor bikes and four electricity pylons had been set on fire, said Nkutumula, and two petrol stations had been wrecked.

The government also calculated that the damage will cause the loss of at least 3,910 jobs, and therefore constitutes a serious setback in the fight against poverty.

Nkutumula said there is a constitutional right for citizens to hold demonstrations - but not to riot, to loot or to destroy public and private property. As for rising prices, cited as the cause of the riots, he said that "only with hard work will it be possible to reduce the cost of living".

The result of the rioting, he added, "will be to increase the cost of living still further through the destruction of goods which could help take us out of the difficult situation we currently find ourselves in".

Nkutumula stressed that the key to cutting prices was to increase production. If the country were to produce more grain, the grain prices would certainly fall, he claimed.

He insisted that Mozambique is on the path to development. "The Mozambique of today is not the Mozambique of five years ago, or of two years ago", said Nkutumula. "Mozambique is advancing, and to continue to make progress we must all pull together".