The deaths were caused by incendiary attacks. Some 25 burnt and totally disfigured bodies were retrieved from the debris of a gigantic shopping mall in Antananarivo. It is widely rumoured that the mall is owned by President Marc Ravalomanana.

Earlier Tuesday, Andry Rajoelina, the mayor of Antananarivo and principal adversary of President Ravalomanana, called his supporters to calm down. Likewise, the president, through the voice of his prime minister, Charles Rabemananjara, made a similar mollifying call to demonstrators.

But on Wednesday, Radio France International (RFI) reported that President Ravalomanana is about to issue a warrant for the arrest of his unrelenting rival, Rajoelina, when he renewed calls for a general protest across the country, and then invited the international community to compel the “dictator president” to exile, in order for a "sane" transition government to be formed.

But, our correspondent said what some Madagascans and outside observers are still wondering about is the security officials’ - police, military and gendarmerie - passive role in the whole affair. La Gazette, a Madagascan newspaper reports this morning that the military’s inactive attitude towards the mayor’s protesters is another sign of the general notion across the country that the present government is growing unpopular.