Cholera rules spark riots in Zambia slum

Residents in a Lusaka slum are rioting over a ban on street vending that was imposed to control a cholera outbreak in the country's capital.

According to a report by Reuters, Local Government and Housing Minister Vincent Mwale, whose ministry jointly imposed the ban with the Health Ministry, said that police had been sent to the densely populated Kanyama township to stop the riots.

Police are already in the area," Mwale said, referring to the Kanyama slum near the centre of Lusaka.

Peter Zulu, a local resident, said the rioters had blocked Los Angeles road, a major thoroughfare, and that police had fired teargas to try to disperse them.

Zambia on Sunday declared a curfew in Kanyama township, which has been badly affected by a cholera outbreak which has killed more than 60 people in Lusaka since October.