WORLD NEWS

BISHKEK: Nineteen people died and almost 200 were injured in riots that swept through the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday, a health ministry official told AFP.

The official, Larisa Kachibekova, said many of the dead died from gunshot wounds.

"There are 19 dead," Kachibekova said.

"As a result of the disorder the number of injured across the whole republic currently stands at 197 people, 55 people in the regions and 142 in Bishkek," she added.

The health ministry's previous casualty toll stood at 17 dead and 142 injured.

Kachibekova said earlier more than 130 people had been hospitalized, some with gunshot wounds. "Most are young people under the age of 30," she told AFP.

AFP reporters heard police firing live rounds into the air.

Earlier protesters fired on the government building in the capital Bishek using Kalashnikov rifles that were apparently seized from police, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

A deadly wave of riots against President Kurmanbek Bakiyev shook the country Wednesday as thousands of protesters clashed with authorities.