
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 21, 1990                   TAG: 9003212085
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA                                 LENGTH: Short

ETHNIC GANGS FIGHT IN ROMANIAN CITY

Street violence broke out between Hungarians swinging chains and club-wielding Romanians in a Transylvanian city late Tuesday, leaving at least one dead and 80 injured, hospital officials said.

Gangs rampaged through downtown Tirgu Mures in the worst outbreak of violence since the December revolution that overthrew the late communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Tirgu Mures is 250 miles northwest of Bucharest.

Hospital officials confirmed one dead and 80 injured, and said they feared the casualty toll would rise as authorities made their way into the center of town, where the heaviest fighting was reported.

Those treated told hospital officials of being struck by ethnic Hungarians swinging chains on the fourth night of fighting. At the root of the clashes are ethnic Hungarian demands for separate Hungarian-language public facilities and schools.

Tirgu Mures is considered a cradle of ethnic Hungarian culture in Transylvania. The region was ruled by Hungary for centuries, but was granted to Romania under a 1920 treaty. Most of the estimated 1.7 million ethnic Hungarians in Romania live in Transylvania.

Ethnic cultures were largely suppressed under the 24-year rule of Ceausescu and minority groups have become increasingly vocal in demanding cultural autonomy since his overthrow and Christmas Day execution.

by CNB