One person was shot dead Saturday during a demonstration in Port-au-Prince by thousands of anti-government demonstratrors demanding the resignation of President Michel Martelly.
Frantz Lerebours, Haiti's National Police spokesman, confirmed for VOA that the victim died of gunshot wounds about 2:40 p.m. However, police said they could not identify the person because no identificaiton documents were found on the body.
The demonstrators were denouncing what they saw as corruption and waste of public funds by government officials. Lerebours said the protesters, who numbered more than 3,000, provoked officers by removing a police roadblock.
Anti-government demonstrations calling for Martelly's exit also took place in Haiti's second-largest city of Cap-Haitien.
According to a VOA-affiliated reporter in the city, the protest turned violent when some of the demonstrators seized cellphones from people on the streets and sabotaged some public works around the city's main public square.
The demonstrators said they would continue to take to the streets until Martelly left office.
In the city of Gonaives, north of Port-au-Prince, demonstrators demanded Martelly's resignation and also protested against the high cost of living in Haiti. They said they wanted the president to leave office before January 1.
Martelly's spokesman, Lucien Jura, could not be reached for comment.
