Police in Honduras fire on protesters
July 6, 2009
Riot police also fired teargas to try and disperse thousands of supporters of ousted Honduras President Manuel Zelaya, who had gathered at the airport in Tegucigalpa.
When protestors pushed through barricades at the airport, at least one soldier opened fire, killing two, including a ten-year-old boy, and wounding several other people.
The crowd broke and ran.
Eye witnesses reported that some miltary officers began taking rifles away from junior soldiers, as ambulances tried to get through.
Zelaya, the country's democratically elected president, was due to arrive at approximately 23:00 GMT, but Honduran airport authorities refused the plane permission to land.
At least half a dozen military vehicles blocked the only runway at the airport in Tegucigalpa.
Interim President Roberto Micheletti, installed after last week's coup, had said that he would not allow Zelaya to return and had vowed to arrest the ousted president if he did reach Honduran territory.
Zelaya was underway on a private plane with Miguel d'Escoto, a Nicaraguan diplomat and president of the UN General Assembly. The ousted president spoke to TV station Telesur from the plane and his comments were broadcast live across Honduras.
Zelaya's plane has now landed at Managua in Nicaragua, but he has vowed to try again on Monday or Tuesday.
The nightly curfew is to be brought forward three hours, to 7pm, as the military attempts to disperse the large crowds still waiting near the airport.
A small crowd of demonstrators have refused to leave the place where the shootings occurred.
A back-up delegation headed by Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary-general of the Organization of American states (OAS), with presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay was due to fly to El Salvador later on Sunday, to monitor the situation in Honduras.
Meanwhile, interim leader Roberto Micheletti ramped up tensions by claiming that Nicaraguan troops were moving toward their joint border, a claim Nicaraguan military immediately denied.
ch/afp/reuters
Editor: Michael Durrie