UKRAINE DEATH TOLL PASSES 30 AS PROTESTORS TAKE POLICE OFFICERS HOSTAGE
At least 33 people have reportedly been killed after police fired live rounds at protesters near Independence Square in Kiev.
Protesters have taken 67 police officers prisoner, according to the interior ministry.
Hotel lobbies have been turned into makeshift hospitals, where some of the injured are given emergency treatment.
Meanwhile residents of Kiev have been warned by police not to go outside, and the Mayor of Kiev has resigned from the ruling party in protest over the bloodshed.
Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko said “Armed criminals and toughs were unleashed to beat people to show that there is conflict among people. But these plans are doomed”.
Tanaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore is among those attending an Extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.
“The scenes that we’re seeing in Kiev are appealing, people dying – and what we have to do is we have to address that very urgently” he said.
“We will – during the course of the afternoon – be looking at some proposals for visa restrictions, for restrictions on bank accounts and so on”.
“I believe myself that they need to be targeted – I think they need to be targeted at those who are responsible” he added.
