Man is ‘burned alive in church’ as mobs riot over Charlie Hebdo cover in Niger

THE INDEPENDENT – 17.1.2015

Five people have died including a man burned alive inside a Catholic church in Niger during riots sparked by Charlie Hebdo‘s latest cover depicting the Prophet Mohamed.

A police officer and four civilians were killed on Friday in Zinder, the country’s second largest city, as churches burned and Christian homes and a French cultural centre were looted by mobs.

The death toll originally stood at four but rose to five after emergency services discovered a body in one of several churches that had been set on fire.

On Saturday a second day of protests started outside the grand mosque in the capital Niamey as stone-throwing protesters were met by police firing tear gas to disperse the crowds.