Coe says he ‘didn’t recognize’ riot-hit London
LONDON — London’s Olympics chief says the games are showing the true face of the city — exactly a year after riots engulfed it in violence.
Sebastian Coe says the world “saw a London I didn’t recognize” during four nights of mayhem that erupted last Aug. 6.
He added, “what I am seeing at the moment is a London that I do recognize.”
The rioting was triggered by the police shooting, in disputed circumstances, of a 29-year-old man in the Tottenham area of north London. A protest outside the local police station erupted into violence, and arson and looting spread over four nights across the city and beyond.
Five people died in Britain’s worst street violence for decades.
Coe said Monday that London has been on “a very important journey” since then.
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