Madagascar: the gendarmes fire on a crowd of inhabitants leaving several dead and injured
The village of Ikongo is located in the southwestern part of the Vatovavy-Fitovinany region.
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1 min
In Madagascar, a shooting by the gendarmerie left at least 18 dead and 34 injured, according to the latest report from the chief doctor of the hospital in the small town of Ikongo, in the south-east of the island.
The gendarmes fired, this Monday, August 29, on the crowd of inhabitants who claimed the heads of four suspects, arrested in a case of kidnapping of an albino child, which occurred a week earlier.
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With our correspondent in Antananarivo
,
Laure Verneau
.
Of the 34 injured in the shooting, 9 are currently between life and death.
Patients are waiting for a government helicopter to be transferred to the capital.
This is explained by Doctor Tango Oscar Toky, head doctor at the Ikongo hospital, who specifies that injuries show, according to him, that the inhabitants were targeted at point-blank range.
According to a gendarme involved in the shooting, around 500 people tried to force their way into the barracks to seize the suspects and take justice into their own hands.
The shootings are therefore self-defense, according to him.
He assures that the gendarmes first launched smoke bombs then fired warning shots, before resolving to shoot to protect themselves.
The local deputy, Jean Brunelle Razafintsiandraofa denies this version and will ask for a parliamentary inquiry to determine who gave the order to shoot first.
For now, calm has returned to the city, but he fears reprisals from the families of the deceased.
The balance sheet of the national gendarmerie differs and amounts to 11 dead and 18 injured.
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Madagascar