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06May14

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Foreign experts to take part in probe into Odessa riot, minister says

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Foreign experts will participate in an investigation into riots in Ukraine's Odessa on May 2, in which 46 people were killed and more than 200 were injured, parliament-appointed Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Tuesday.

"The results of the probe into the Odessa events will be made public. We are now involving foreign experts in the investigation. For the sake of objectivity," Avakov wrote on his Facebook page.

Odessa developments

In Odessa on Tuesday people continue to bury the dead in the regional House of Trade Unions. Forensic experts have completed the identification of 37 of the 46 victims. According to official data, five of them were shot, eight died after falling from a height trying to escape the fire, the remaining 24 died from burns and carbon monoxide poisoning. Six women are among the victims, age of dead ranges from 18 to 62 years.

Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleh Tsariov and several other politicians believe that the authorities for fear of provoking riots deliberately understated the number of victims, which , according to local media reports, could be 116.

Rioting in Odessa began on May 2 when football fans arriving from Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, as well as activists from the radical Right Sector movement and members of the so-called Maidan self-defence forces from Kiev staged a march along city streets. The action culminated in clashes with supporters of Ukraine's federalization, during which radical activists set on fire the regional Trade Unions House and a tent camp on Kulikovo Pole Square, where activists were collecting signatures in favour of a referendum on Ukraine's federalization and the state status of the Russian language.

[Source: Itar Tass, Kiev, 06May14]

Ukraine Unrest

This document has been published on 06May14 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.