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60 injured, 1 dead after Honduras soldiers, protesters clash

(Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-30 10:49

Supporters of Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya clash with police near the presidential residency in Tegucigalpa June 29, 2009. [Agencies]

TEGUCIGALPA: Sixty people were injured and one person died in clashes between Honduran troops and demonstrators backing President Manuel Zelaya, local television channel Canal 51 reported on Monday.

One person died of bullet wounds in a taxi, the broadcaster reported, only to be shut down seconds later.

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A few minute earlier, Juan Barahona, who leads the United Workers Federation, siad that soldiers had fired into the crowd demonstrating outside the Palace of Government.

"When we were dispersed I saw several people with bullet wounds during to the soldiers' shooting," Barahona said. "Two ambulances arrived but so far I don't know if there are deaths."

Local media had reported shooting and tear gas used at the scene, as two helicopters flew over the area.

Shots were heard in the early hours of Monday morning outside the Palace of Government. The president of the Committee for the Defense of Honduran Human Rights said that 27 people had been arrested in that incident.

Honduras' interim President Roberto Micheletti (L) takes the oath of newly appointed Foreign Minister Enrique Ortez Colindre at Congress in Tegucigalpa June 29, 2009. Micheletti was named interim president by Congress within hours of the coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday. [Agencies]

Zelaya was seized by hooded and heavily armed soldiers from his residence in the early hours of Sunday morning and  forced to board a plane to Costa Rica.

A new leader, Roberto Micheletti, was appointed by the nation's legislature on Sunday afternoon, in a session that began with the reading of a resignation letter, reportedly from Zelaya, which the president has denounced as fake.

Micheletti declared martial law within hours of being sworn in.

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