Riot police opened fire on protesters in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa yesterday, leaving at least 22 people dead and the city centre deserted after a third day of violence.

Hundreds of people with gunshot wounds swamped the three main hospitals as wailing relatives crowded the wards looking for loved ones.

	Women weep outside the hospital where the wounded were treated

Doctors fear some who need help will die overnight because they are too afraid to try to reach a hospital.

Witnesses said the dead and injured were innocent bystanders caught in clashes between security forces and stone-throwing protesters, said to be mostly students.

“I wasn’t doing anything, I was just looking for my son. I opened the door and I was shot,” said Ateneyesh Mamo, 39, a mother of two.

The protests follow weeks of tension over last month’s elections, which the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy claimed were rigged by prime minister Meles Zenawi’s party.

The opposition also accused the government of intimidating and killing its officials during the elections.

The government said yesterday’s victims died when police moved in to break up roadblocks and curb looting. It blamed the violence on the opposition, whose leader and deputy were placed under house arrest yesterday.

The official election results were due yesterday, but have been postponed for a month.