Three people have died after being arrested during riots in southern Mauritania, the interior ministry said Tuesday, as the victory of incumbent Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani in Saturday's presidential vote raised tensions in the West African country.

Looting and vandalism broke out in the town of Kaedi in the Senegal river valley on Monday night, with security forces arresting a number of "rioters", the ministry said in a statement. Two of the rioters died in custody and the third died later in hospital, it said.