Troops Fire on Protesters in Bucharest : East Bloc: Widespread demonstrations reported throughout Romania. Troops refusing to fire on demonstrators were executed, reports say.

Security forces opened fire on crowds of anti-government protesters shouting “Down, Ceausescu!” in the Romanian capital of Bucharest today and several demonstrators were killed, Yugoslav radio reported.

Military tanks rolled through the city and formed a circle around several thousand mostly young people at a main intersection in an effort to control the burgeoning unrest, said a Yugoslav reporter.

A Soviet news report from Bucharest said, “Along the central street of the capital, tanks are moving, following the lines of submachine gunners pushing back the crowds. Bursts of automatic weapons fire are being heard. Panic-stricken people are hiding in doorways and courtyards.”

The unrest was the first reported in the capital since demonstrations against the hard-line president, Nicolae Ceausescu, broke out over the weekend on the other side of the country in the city of Timisoara.

There were chilling reports by Yugoslav media that soldiers and police who refused to shoot at demonstrators in Timisoara were publicly executed. And the Soviet press agency Tass said workers occupied businesses in the western city today and threatened to blow them up if demands for a new government were not met.

Hungarian radio said the Romanian Communist Party’s ruling Politburo was meeting in an unannounced session, which was likely to discuss measures to curb the unrest. It said some protesters chanted, “The army is with us!”

The unrest is the biggest challenge to Ceausescu’s 24-year-long authoritarian rule and reportedly has spread to a dozen cities. Access to the country by foreign reporters is strictly curtailed, but witnesses have said hundreds and perhaps thousands of people have been killed.

Shots were also reported fired today at protesters in the city of Arad, about 40 miles from Timisoara. There was no immediate word on casualties there. Security forces first used tear gas to try to quell protests in Bucharest, a reporter for the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug said on Belgrade radio.

The Yugoslav journalist, Petar Tomic, said an armored vehicle crushed two students. Other students rushed to their aid and security forces opened fire, killing or wounding about 20 people, Tomic said.

A Western diplomat reported seeing at least four ambulances in the city center shortly after the protests began.

Tass reported “a great many” fire trucks and military vehicles in the center of the city and said all approaches to the Presidential Palace and Communist Party headquarters were blocked by army units.

“The crowd of protesters, which first numbered a few hundred, has now increased to several thousand,” it reported. “Those gathered in the square are shouting the slogans ‘Freedom!’ ‘Down with dictatorship!’ They are stopping buses and cars.”

The Western diplomat in Bucharest, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said by telephone that Ceausescu was interrupted today at an official rally called to support his tough stance against protesters.

The speech was broadcast on radio and television. When shouts erupted, the broadcast abruptly switched to patriotic music for about three minutes. It then resumed with Ceausescu in mid-sentence.