Youth riots that have injured more than 38 police officers continued in neighbourhoods outside Paris following the death of two teens who were killed in a crash with a police patrol car.

Youths threw Molotov cocktails, set police barricades on fire and fired buckshot at police, who retaliated with tear gas and rubber bullets. In Villiers-le-Bel and surrounding areas, youths set fire to 36 vehicles, the area's prefecture said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy appealed for calm while police braced for more problems.

It was the second day of violence after a 15-year-old and 16-year-old were killed  in Villiers-le-Bel on Sunday when the motorcycle they were on crashed into a patrol car. Police said the teens ignored traffic rules and weren't wearing helmets as they rode the unregistered vehicle.

Shortly after, groups of youths threw Molotov cocktails at a nearby police station, which was almost completely burned down. They also targeted shops and torched about 15 cars.

The town of public housing blocks is home to Arab, black and white residents, just a few kilometres north of the French capital.

The suburbs are dominated by African and Arab immigrants and their French-born children who complain of high unemployment and racial discrimination.

Some of the worst violence in France's history occurred two years ago when a pair of teenagers died in an electrical substation following a police chase.

Rioters targeted schools, hospitals, buses and cars, leaving a wake of immense material destruction that prompted authorities to declare a state of emergency and impose curfews.

With files from the Associated Press