Senegal’s political crisis deepened as a second person died on Saturday in increasingly violent protests against President Macky Sall’s decision to postpone upcoming presidential elections.
A 23-year-old man died on Saturday after being shot during clashes in the capital Dakar, two of his relatives told AFP, while a 22-year-old student died Friday in the northern town of Saint-Louis in still uncertain circumstances.
“The international and regional community must bear witness to the excesses of this dying regime,” said presidential candidate Khalifa Sall (no relation).
Modou Gueye, a market vendor, took “a live round to the stomach” on Friday in the Colobane neighborhood of the capital Dakar, said his brother Dame Gueye, 29, who was with him at the time.
His brother-in-law Mbagnick Ndiaye said he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday morning.
Authorities have yet to confirm Gueye’s death, but videos posted to social media suggest there were others injured as well.
In Saint-Louis, Alpha Yoro Tounkara died on the campus of Gaston Berger University where he was studying geography, and a hundred of his classmates held an all-night vigil for him.
The Interior Ministry issued a statement denying that security forces had operated within the university campus.