The first two victims of the riots were Police Constable Jacques Pierre Clément Beesoo and civilian Robert Brousse de Laborde (28 years old)[1] in Trois Boutiques.
In the coastal historic village of Mahébourg a Creole gang assaulted the Hindu and Muslim spectators who were watching a Hindustani movie at Cinéma Odéon.
[5] Coupled with the May 1965 riots, there was a sense of fear and local forces were unprepared to deal with such violence.
As a result a State of Emergency was declared by the Governor Sir John Shaw Rennie in May 1965 which lasted for the rest of that year.
[6][7] Operation Fishplate was initiated by Great Britain and this involved the mobilisation of Coldstream Guards from Aden, Yemen to the island of Mauritius.