A shaky truce crumbled Thursday as
gunfire erupted at Independence Square, the center of anti-government protests
and an increasingly violent crisis that protest leaders say left as many as 128
dead in recent days.
At least 100 people have died and
500 have been injured since Thursday morning, the head of the protesters'
medical service told CNN.
The Ukrainian government has not
released an updated figure, but the interior ministry said earlier that one
police officer was among the dead.
It's unclear what prompted the
gunfire just hours after the government declared a truce. But CNN crews at the
scene reported that as security forces were moving away from the area, a group
of protesters pursued them, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.
"Protesters broke the
truce," said a statement from President Viktor Yanukovych's
office."The opposition used the negotiation period to buy time, to
mobilize and get weapons to protesters."
When the bullets flew, several
demonstrators fell to the ground.
Protesters grabbed the wounded by
their clothes or limbs, and carried many of them to a hotel lobby at one end of
the square that had been converted into a triage center.
Bodies, covered in bloodied sheets,
lay on the floor. Orthodox priests prayed over them.
Protest medical volunteer Olga
Bogomolets accused government forces of shooting to kill, saying she had
treated 13 people she believed had been targeted by "professional
snipers."
"They were shot directly to
their hearts, their brain and to their neck," she said. "They didn't
give any chance to doctors, for us, to save lives."
CNN could not independently confirm
Bogomolets' claim of sniper fire.
On Tuesday, 28 people -- protesters
and police -- were killed, officials said.
If Thursday's death toll is
confirmed, it would make it the deadliest day of the protests, which began in
November when Yanukovych reversed a decision to sign a trade deal with the
European Union and instead turned toward Russia.
Source: CNN
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