At Least 54 Killed in Ethnic Violence in Guinea

Burned alive or hacked to death

At least 54 people have been burned alive or hacked to death in ethnic clashes in the west African state of Guinea, a medic said, adding that all the victims had been identified.

The doctor, from a hospital in N'Zerekore, the country's second-largest city, said on Wednesday there were more bodies in the mortuary that had not yet been identified because several "have no head, while others have no identity papers".

"For the 54 identified, we went on their identity documents. That has helped us a lot," he said, adding that the bodies would be returned to the Guerze and Konianke communities.

The doctor spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The violence, which came less than two months before legislative elections, broke out in the southern forest region early on Monday when petrol station guards from the Guerze tribe in the town of Koule beat to death an ethnic Konianke youth they had accused of stealing.