Things go badly for Coke as rock fans run riot

Buenos Aires (AP) - After a promotional offer went wrong, dozens of youths rampaged through a pedestrian shopping mall in Buenos Aires yesterday when they failed to get tickets to a concert by US punk-rock band the Ramones.

More than 1,000 fans had queued overnight outside the offices of the Coca-Cola company to exchange 10 bottle tops for a concert ticket as part of a promotion. When company representatives told them no tickets were available, fans smashed shop windows, looted a news-stand and threw rubble from a nearby building site at the Coca-Cola offices.

Company officials were not immediately available for comment. Local news agencies said several people were injured when hit by stones during the disturbances, which continued for more than an hour. No arrests were made. The violence ended shortly after noon, when police arrived.

Shortly afterwards, police said tickets for the three concerts to be held from 24 to 26 March would be made available later in the day at another site.

The Ramones, known for their hard-rocking repetitive punk style, recorded such hits as "Rockaway Beach", "Sheena is a punk rocker" and "Blitzkrieg Bop" in the 1970s and early 1980s but have faded from the forefront of the pop scene since then.