Dozens Killed During Protests Over Fuel Prices in Angola

While order had been restored to Luanda and several other cities by Thursday, the mood remained tense in some places.

Many police officers were still out patrolling roads. Charred vehicles sat on some streets. Shards of glass and goods were scattered on sidewalks and inside shops and other buildings that had been looted during the chaos.

The increase in gas prices to $1.65 a gallon, from about $1.25, has also increased the cost of food, as it becomes more expensive to transport goods to supermarkets. Taxi fares have also shot up and could now consume more than 60 percent of a low-wage worker’s salary, said Carlos Rosado de Carvalho, a professor at Catholic University in Angola.

That “was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said. “A minimum wage worker practically works to pay for transportation.”

Government officials have blamed the violence on instigators seeking to undermine stability in the country. But some witnesses said the police and military responded with a violent crackdown that, in some instances, led to the deaths of innocent people.

The woman, who died, was identified by family and friends as Ana Mubiala, a wife and mother of six who was in her 30s and worked as an informal street vendor. Relatives, friends and family gathered inside the family’s home on Thursday to pay their respects. The crowd of mourners grew so large at one point that it spilled out onto the street.

Ms. Mubiala had gone outside to look for her son when she was killed, said Francisco da Costa, a neighbor. “It is so sad that our neighbor was shot dead,” he said.

Many Angolans remain anxious about what will happen next.

Mateus Loki, 27, said he did not think the government would back down from the fuel price increase and that there would likely be more protests.

“The police are moving around, hunting down the protesters and clearly sending out a message,” he said. “Anyone who dares to come out and protest again, they will be killed.”

• Sanjana Varghese contributed reporting from London.