About a hundred youths of North African origin rioted in central Brussels last night on a second night of trouble following the death of an inmate in jail, a police official said.
Violence broke out on Monday evening in the poor Marolles district of Brussels after news that a 25-year-old inmate of North African origin died on Sunday.
The inmate was given a product to help him calm down, the official said. An investigation has been launched.
Yesterday, the youths torched a youth centre, attacked police cars and shops.
All the rioters on were of North African origin, the official said, adding that 30 people were arrested.
The rioting was the worst since youths set fire to 15 vehicles across Belgium last year in violence which authorities said imitated unrest then going on in France.
Brussels's mayor Freddy Thielemans told Belgian RTBF radio he did not expect the riots to get worse and thanked the family of the young inmate who died for helping to try and calm down the rioters.