Senegal student dies in clashes with police over grants

A student was killed and 18 police injured on Tuesday in clashes in Saint-Louis, northern Senegal, as students demanded payment of their grants, the Senegalese interior minister said.

The scuffles broke out at the University of Saint-Louis, leaving "20 wounded, including 18 gendarmes," Ali Ngouye Ndiaye told private station Radio Future Media.

"Unfortunately, a student died as a result of this incident," he added.

The second-year student was shot dead, student sources told AFP, adding "more than 20" were injured. The victim's age was not given.

"We regret this incident," the interior minister said, adding: "The (students') claim was primarily a grants problem."

Lacking their grants, they wanted to "eat without paying the bill" in the university restaurants, which prompted the authorities to appeal to the police, he said.

The minister said he expected an inquiry to be held and promised the grants would be paid.

After the death was announced, angry students ransacked an administrative building of the university, an AFP journalist saw. Debris was strewn across the ground, windows were smashed and doors had been kicked in.

Two university employees told AFP that they could not access the site on Tuesday because of the violence.

Student demonstrations are common in Senegal but rarely result in deaths.