UPDATED — May 2, 6:40 p.m. ET:
More than 40 people were killed Friday, most of them caught in a building fire, during clashes between pro-Russian and Ukrainian government supporters in Odessa, Reuters reported.
At least 38 people choked to death on smoke or were killed when jumping out of windows after the trade union building was set on fire, according to police.
In case you're wondering, no police in sight:
In #Odessa: 30 people killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, 8 after leaping from windows to escape fire, says @MVS_UA http://t.co/CnUndlydiZ
This video shows scenes from the burning building:
View this video on YouTube
(h/t Circa)
At least four others killed and 174 injured when the two sides battled against each other on the streets of the port city.
Two dead bodies in #odessa:
Odessa, a city on the Black Sea some 330 miles from the turmoil in the east, had remained largely untroubled by unrest since the February toppling of pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych.
According to reports, the violence began when marchers calling for Ukrainian national unity clashed with a pro-Russia group said to be comprised of fans of the local soccer team.
#odessa injuries everywhere, bloody scene. Matched w/ rhetoric coming out of Kremlin...bad news
Thousands of protestors threw Molotov cocktails and stones dismantled from the pavements at one another.
Police initially failed to stop the violence, according to local reports.
There are a couple of hundred riot police. They are doing nothing:
The local House of Trade Unions building was set on fire.
Another photo of burning Union building in Odessa.
Howard Amos, a reporter in Russia, tweeted that "heavily outnumbered pro-Russians inside are shooting and throwing flash grenades."
The first floor of the regional administration building seems to be ablaze:
People inside the burning building were seen hanging from windows trying to escape the smoke.
Guys hanging from the window sill on 3rd floor, apparently to escape smoke inside:
Once fire engines and ambulances arrived, the fire in the trade union building was put out and pro-Russian protestors were dragged out by the police and treated for wounds before being loaded into police vans, Amos reported.
Pro-Russian protesters have been brought outside, have hands on head amid mob but are being treated for wounds:
As the clashes ceased, chants of "Odessa, Ukraine" were heard as pro-Russian protesters were led into buses by riot police.
Aftermath outside trade union building in #odessa: