Terrified residents in London fled for their lives as hate-filled rioters set their district ablaze.
A huge fireball engulfed a historic furniture shop in Croydon, South London, as hundreds of thugs went to war with police.
Firefighters were forced to let the shop burn so they could tackle countless other blazes across the borough.
Some desperate residents were forced to jump out of windows to save themselves as buildings burned.
One woman leapt 14ft into the arms of police after being coaxed from a first-floor window near the inferno.
A witness said: "The residents were so scared of the rioting they barricaded themselves in, so when the fire took hold they couldn't get out. Passers-by tried to break in through the ground floor doors and used the residents' barricade - clothes and mattresses and things - as a crash mat.
"The woman was so scared she jumped, picked herself up and fled from her rescuers. She was hysterical."
Local landlord Alan McCabe said: "I have never seen such disregard for human life." The 144-year-old Reeves store - still run as a family business - was judged to be beyond saving.
As the shop burned, distraught Marc Reeves tweeted: "That shop in Croydon is on a street that bears its name - Reeves Corner. Established by my gt gt grandfather in 1867. Now gone."
Graham Reeves, brother of shop boss Trevor, said: "Everything is gone, we have nothing left. Our lives are destroyed."
Hundreds of youths in Croydon also fought running battles with police, hurling sticks, bottles and rocks. Rioters and looters even turned on each other.
One witness said after seeing numerous shops looted: "Black people were shouting at white rioters, accusing them of being undercover police and shouting, 'You're a Fed'. A 15-year-old boy was attacked by the crowd and stabbed in his arm."
Police were also investigating a shooting. The victim survived, but further details were not known
