Six teenagers went on trial in southern France today over the torching of a bus in 2006, hearing the testimony of a young woman who was severely burned in the attack.
The trial again highlights the problem of urban violence in France, a week after youths in a suburb north of Paris clashed with police and set fire to shops, cars and public buildings in two consecutive nights of unrest.
The six youths facing trial are suspected of being part of a gang of eight who attacked a bus in the southern port city of Marseille in October last year, spraying petrol on the seats and setting it ablaze as passengers tried to flee.
One passenger, Mama Galledou, a student from Senegal, caught fire and spent months in hospital recovering from severe burns covering 62 per cent of her body.
The six teenagers, aged between 16 and 18 years old, are accused of arson inflicting a handicap or mutilation and face up to 30 years in prison. Two younger boys were sentenced to eight years in prison by a juvenile court in September.
Ms Galledou (27), testified by video link for about half an hour, telling the court of her "need to know" exactly what happened the night the bus was torched.
"It hurts so much that in the end it doesn't hurt any more," she said. "I can't let go, I have to live."
The Marseille incident followed a number of similar attacks last year on buses near Paris close to the first anniversary of 2005 riots in France's run-down and multiracial suburbs.