BISHKEK: Stragglers from Kyrygyzstan's anti-government riots wandered through the ransacked ruins of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's residence today, looting books, radiators and even garden plants. An acrid smell of smoke hung in the air as daylight streamed in through the smouldering, half-collapsed roof in a scene of devastation following the dramatic anti-government riots yesterday. The angry graffiti daubed on the walls read “Death to Bakiyev!” in a chilling indication of the president's fate, had he not reportedly fled the angry crowds, travelling to the south of the country. Brandishing a torn photograph of Bakiyev's wife decked in oversized jewels, one man shouted bitter encouragement to the looters: “Look how the Bakiyevs lived! Look at all those diamonds, when the people barely have enough to live on.” “The authorities robbed the people, now it's the people who are stripping the authorities,” said Nurali Baimatovich, a school headmaster, as he watched the looters carry off their trophies. Such brazen scenes of looting were widespread across the Kyrygyz capital. Opposition supporters ripped apart the government offices where scores of protesters died when riot police opened fire into the throng laying siege to the buildings.

75 killed in riots

BISHKEK: A total of 75 people were killed and around 1,000 injured in the riots that saw the Kyrgyz opposition take control of the Central Asian state, the health ministry told AFP on Thursday. Thousands of protesters, angered over rampant corruption and steep utility rate hikes, clashed with security forces in Bishkek and across the ex-Soviet nation on Wednesday.