Euronews correspondent: 'Near one of the hotels close to Independence Square, we have filmed 10 dead bodies'

2014-02-20 41 Dailymotion

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Our correspondent Maria Korenyuk was in central Kyiv as the first clashes broke out, early on Thursday morning.

She sent us an eyewitness account of how Ukraine’s truce was shattered.

“Thick smoke is constantly rising above Independence Square. The situation is very tense. Ambulances are driving non-stop in both directions,” she said.

“We have talked to people who have been on the main square. They don’t look afraid, but they can’t stop crying.

“Near one of the hotels close to Independence Square, we have filmed 10 dead bodies. Witnesses are telling us that these people were killed by snipers, because all of them have bullet wounds. One woman on the square told me that she personally saw another six bodies not far from an underground passage, although we could not find them.

“People feel very desperate, saying that these deaths are only provoking them to take more action. Some say their protest movement should go on – but without weapons – while others nearby are preparing Molotov cocktails.

“Protesters are saying that there are snipers on Instytutska Street, opening fire on the most radical activists. Euronews has a temporary bureau in the ‘Ukraine’ hotel but we can’t reach it because there is shooting everywhere.”