Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 21, 1990 TAG: 9003232528
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/9 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA LENGTH: Medium
At least six people were killed and 300 injured in four days of violence in Tirgu Mures, 250 miles northwest of Bucharest, state-run radio said today. It said the situation was "still tense" this morning in the Transylvanian city, which gangs roamed in the early morning hours.
Witnesses said the army cordoned off the city during the night in a bid to apprehend rioters and prevent outsiders from joining in the violence.
Police and soldiers, armed only with clubs, have been unable to halt the clashes, they said, adding that about 4,000 people were involved in the fighting Tuesday.
One witness, Ioan Pol, said some ethnic Hungarians were throwing firebombs. He said he heard what appeared to be gunfire but its origin was not known.
Hospital officials said many of the injured were suffering from head wounds.
The fighting, the most widespread ethnic violence in Romania in decades, began Saturday when a crowd attacked a Tirgu Mures pharmacy that posted a Hungarian-language sign, Hungarian media reported.
On Monday night, ethnic Romanians attacked the headquarters of an ethnic Hungarian political association that is working for greater cultural autonomy - including the long-denied official right to speak Hungarian.
Romania's provisional government appealed for calm. Neighboring Hungary asked for immediate U.N. mediation to restore order in the region, the Hungarian state news agency MTI reported.
The clashes have their roots in traditional historical rivalries in the region, fueled by ethnic Hungarian demands since December for greater cultural and political autonomy.
In the Hungarian capital of Budapest, about 50,000 people rallied Tuesday in support of the estimated 1.7 million ethnic Hungarians in Romania, who were long suppressed by Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
by CNB