- Written by Daniel Palumbo and Paul Piggott
- BBC Check and BBC News
WATCH: CCTV appears to show police following people minutes before the plane crash
Police are checking surveillance cameras that show a police car following two people on an electric bike minutes before a fatal accident sparked riots in Cardiff.
The footage shows the South Wales Police car and bike 900 meters, or just over half a mile, from the crash site.
But police said none of their cars were on Snowden Road in Ely – where the crash was – at the time it happened.
The video analyzed by BBC Verify was timestamped at 17:59 GMT on Monday on Frank Road.
Ch Supt Martyn Stone gave a statement outside Cardiff Bay Police Station
“We have received footage showing a police car following a bicycle at just around 6pm,” said CH Supt Martin Stone in a statement outside Cardiff Bay police station.
He declined to answer questions after the statement.
He added that the footage “will help us determine the circumstances that led to the collision.”
“You should study the carefully worded statement from the Chief Superintendent,” he said.
image source, Getty Images
A car burns amid mayhem in the Cardiff suburb of Ely
“We can confirm that the following investigations have been conducted so far, and that when the collision occurred there was no police vehicle on Snowden Road,” said CH Supt Stone.
We do not believe at this point that any other compounds were involved.”
He confirmed that the force made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
An IOPC spokesperson said: “We will be sending investigators to a post-incident police procedure to begin gathering information and assess whether the IOPC will conduct an independent investigation.”
Ashes of burnt cars were seen on Tuesday morning
Cars were set on fire, fireworks were set off and paving slabs were thrown at police as more than 100 people gathered in the aftermath of the incident.
Garbage and burnt cars were left on the streets of Ely, Cardiff
“Fifteen policemen were injured, 11 were taken to hospital, and four were treated at the scene,” said Che Subet Stone.
A number of arrests have already been made, he said, “and there will be more to come.”
“The residents have assurances that we will do everything we can to catch those responsible,” he added.
‘Understandably afraid’
Police were called to the crash shortly after 18:00 GMT on Monday.
At around 20:00, the police tweeted that they were still at the crash site but were also working to “calm down the ongoing disturbances”.
The force said it had received a large number of calls from “understandably frightened” residents.
The Welsh Ambulance Service said it was called to the scene at 22:30 and five people were taken to hospital.
Resident Vicky Takata said she saw “a lot of riot vans” from her window and a helicopter that was “dropping the torch on us”.
“It was a massacre,” she recalls. “I’ve never seen anything like it other than on television.”
Cardiff: Ely hooligans throw fireworks at police
Other eyewitnesses said that young men chased police officers on the road and threw stones and rockets at cars.
“We’re all the police with shields in front of my car,” Ms. Takata recalls. “It was very scary.”
The force said its thoughts were with the families of the two boys who died, as well as with those affected by the riots.
A car caught fire and its roof was blown off
Bridie Ball, who knows the Evans family, said Harvey had “a lot of friends” and loved motorcycles and football.
He was Kerris W’s best friend [they] They were into the same things. “It wasn’t strange that they were together,” she said.
Ms. Ball said she believes the officers are after the two men “because there are videos going around”.
A car with smashed windows on Snowden Road in Ely
Social Justice Minister Jane Hutt told the Snead newspaper on Tuesday afternoon that more arrests are expected.
First Minister Mark Drakeford – whose constituency includes Cardiff West Ely – said he was “deeply concerned” by the “disturbing reports”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said what happened was “horrific and totally unacceptable”.
Blade Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats have called for a full investigation. Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservative group Snead, called it “extremely troubling”.
Cardiff Council Chairman Hugh Thomas called for calm, and said the local authority was “helping to clean up, so we can rebuild and give Ely a more positive image”.
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