Two policemen injured in Malta shooting

VALLETTA, July 24 - Two policemen were shot and injured on Saturday in an incident at a construction site in St Julians, six miles from Malta's capital Valletta.

A police spokesman said one of the officers had suffered serious face and neck injuries while the other one was slightly injured.

It is the first time in many years that officers in Malta had been shot while on duty.

The circumstances of the incident were not immediately clear but the spokesman said the officers had intervened after complaints about noise from a construction site.

Times of Malta said two men, both reported to be Maltese nationals, started a fire beneath a crane following an apparent dispute over the construction work.

One of them left but the other stayed on site and started shooting when police arrived. He later surrendered after negotiations and was arrested.

The man who had left the scene was also arrested. REUTERS