A total of 78 people were arrested overnight on Thursday around the suburban regions of Paris, said French National Police General Direction on Friday.

According to the police, 519 cars were torched in a fresh upsurge of violence. The riots, which started last Thursday, have caused tensions among local residences and top French leaders.

The violence was sparked by accidental deaths of two teenagers of African origins on Thursday in Clichy-sous-Bois in northeast Paris, an area which is home to many poor Muslim immigrants from North Africa.

Bouna Traore, a 15-year-old of Malian background, and Zyed Benna, a 17-year-old of Tunisian origin, scaled the wall of an electrical relay station to flee a police identity check and were electrocuted near a transformer.

Young people in the suburban areas went on a rampage at their deaths. They set fires to vehicles and local buildings and clashed with the police.

Source: Xinhua