Walter Astrada

That day, Walter Astrada was covering the demonstration near the presidential palace. Initially the situation had been calm. A delegate representing Rajoelina’s supporters had been allowed into the presidential palace and, as he walked out, the crowd moved to greet him and the police withdrew. Walter was an eye witness. Demonstrators were rejoicing to see that the police had gone, when he heard gunfire. “Everybody started running. I thought they were just firing in the air, until I saw demonstrators on the ground covered in blood. The shooting stopped 40 seconds later (according to my digital camera), then there was a lull of four minutes 48 seconds. People rushed over to help the injured and cover up the dead, then a second round of shooting started, causing even more casualties.

“I was the only foreign photographer there and was afraid they would confiscate my camera, so I raced to the hotel to send my pictures off to AFP. Half an hour later, when I tried to go back, it was impossible to get through. They were shooting on sight. I spent the rest of the day at the hospital and the morgue.”

The demonstrations and shooting continued in the city for days. The armed forces turned against President Ravalomanana who, on March 17, handed over power to the military who promptly handed it on to Andry Rajoelina, then declared interim president pending elections. Walter Astrada left Madagascar on February 18.

The toll for the clashes over three months was around one hundred. The situation in Madagascar, which was already critical, having been hit by cyclones, floods, drought, huge price rises and recurring problems of food supply, was even worse after the extended political conflict and has led to a dramatic humanitarian crisis.

Laurence de Suremain, AFP