Two scared kids walking back from soccer — France on fire

The families of the young men in this rundown area of a suburb north of Paris, largely populated with first and second-generation immigrants, have reacted to the riots and barrage of news media interest by uniting and occasionally responding aggressively to inquiries from outsiders. Their parents refused to be interviewed.

But some of their friends and acquaintances agreed to talk.

A friend of Traore’s, Samy Asma, 17, said that many people admired the soccer skills of the youth, who was of Mauritanian origin.

Patrick Rodrigues, the resident manager of the building where Benna lived, described the youth, who was of Tunisian origin, as quiet and polite.

‘‘I know the good and bad in this building, and he was good, like his family,’’ Rodrigues said. ‘‘I could never imagine Zyed taking part in any of this burning of cars’’.

During the day, the neighborhood and buildings where the youths lived have little hint of the violent clashes at night. But inside the housing projects, families often live in crowded conditions.

As for the action that apparently led to the deaths — fleeing a police identity inspection — other youths in the housing project empathized.

‘‘I know why they ran away when they saw the police and I have done the same thing many times myself,’’ said Diadie Camara, 18, a friend of Traore’s, who stood at the bottom of the staircase outside the apartment building where the victim’s family lived.

‘‘Bouna was just a small guy who wouldn’t do anything against anyone.’’

According to two initial police investigations, the incident began at 5:20 pm on Thursday, October 27, when a squad of police officers arrived to investigate a possible break-in at a construction site in Clichy-sous-Bois.

By 5:50 pm, the police had brought six youths back to the police station at Livry-Gargan for questioning. As they questioned the youths, computer screens in the station blacked out and several areas nearby suffered a power failure.

That blackout, at 6:12 pm, was caused by what police called the electrocution of the two youths and the injury of their friend Muttin Altun, 17, as they hid in a transformer at an electrical substation.

According to statements by Altun, who remains hospitalized with injuries, a group of 10 or so friends had been playing soccer on a nearby field and were returning home when they saw the police patrol.

They all fled in different directions to avoid the lengthy questioning that youths in the housing projects say they often face from the police.

They say they are required to present identity papers and can be held as long as four hours at the police station, and sometimes their parents must come before the police will release them.

That evening, as news of the deaths spread, youths began to burn cars, break windows and vandalize bus stops in Clichy-sous-Bois.

A small fire burned itself out in a school building and a cordon of nearly 50 police officers prevented a group of youths from approaching the town hall.

Anger that started locally has spread quickly through Internet chat rooms, cellphone text messages and online articles, as well as video images like one on Afrik.com that includes what residents of Clichy-sous-Bois say is a home videotape of the police using Flash-Ball guns, which shoot soft balls at high velocity, on rioters.

‘‘The resentment is huge here, and we were not surprised to see an incident like this spark it off,’’ said Mokded Hannachi, a government official involved in youth affairs, who has been acting as a mediator between the police and the youths. ‘‘You cannot constantly stop people for no reason to check their papers and not have consequences.’’

While the use of weapons such as Flash-Ball guns has discouraged youths from having pitched battles with the police, Hannachi said the government must become engaged with the youths to calm the situation.

‘‘We now need investigations, condemnations for those who have done things wrong and apologies for mistakes,’’ Hannachi said. ‘‘You can already see what happens when repression tactics are used’’.