10 Killed as Madagascar Troops Fire on Protesters : Unrest: Hundreds are reported injured in the most violent incident in 10 weeks of protests on the island.

At least 10 people were killed and several hundred wounded Saturday when troops opened fire on thousands of demonstrators marching on Madagascar’s presidential palace, hospital sources said.

Witnesses said helicopter gunships and the elite guard of President Didier Ratsiraka opened fire after the protesters, demonstrating for political reform, pushed through security barriers as they neared the palace on the eight-mile route from the capital.

Many people were crushed as the terrified crowd ran back to the city after troops opened fire and threw grenades at the marchers.

It was the most violent incident in 10 weeks of unrest and protests on the Indian Ocean island.

“The hospitals are full of wounded, at least 10 are dead. It was total panic after the troops opened fire,” one Antananarivo resident said.

One of the main hospitals in the capital said that it was treating between 200 and 300 people for injuries.

Another hospital said it was treating “a multitude of wounded,” giving no figures.

One leader of the opposition Active Forces Coalition--Prof. Zafy Albert--was among those wounded in the clash. Albert had been appointed by the opposition to lead a “shadow government.”

The demonstrators set off on a “freedom march” to the heavily guarded presidential complex early Saturday after meeting in one of Antananarivo’s main squares.

Demonstrators said that the security forces opened fire and used tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd, estimated by organizers at more than 200,000.

A statement issued Saturday by the president’s office said demonstrators had set fire to the house of a leading figure in the ruling government coalition--Jerome Razanabahiny, secretary general of the Militant Movement for Malagasy Socialism.

The statement also blamed the marchers for the deaths, saying the protesters wanted to force their way into the presidential compound and had ignored loudspeaker calls to disperse.

Madagascar has been crippled by a 10-week opposition campaign of strikes and daily mass demonstrations aimed at forcing Ratsiraka to step down after 16 years in office.

Ratsiraka, who took office at the head of a military junta in 1975, said he will not quit.

Until Saturday the protests had been largely peaceful, and Ratsiraka had pledged that his troops would not fire on unarmed civilians.

On July 28, Ratsiraka declared a state of emergency--extended for a further two weeks last Tuesday--and a dusk-to-dawn curfew. He also agreed to start talks with the opposition.

On Thursday, Ratsiraka responded to pressure for change by naming Guy Willy Razanamasy, mayor of Antananarivo, as the new prime minister.

Opposition leaders rejected his choice and called Saturday’s march unless Ratsiraka agreed to negotiations.

Although Ratsiraka has introduced some democratic reforms over the last year, the opposition wants more radical change.