BISHKEK, May 16 (RIA Novosti) - About 800 protestors stormed a gold mine in northeast Kyrgyzstan, demanding its closure for environmental reasons, a senior human rights official in the Central Asian nation said Wednesday.
Tursunbek Akun, the chairman of the presidential commission on human rights, who traveled to Kyrgyzstan's second-largest gold deposit at Dzerui to negotiate the situation, said protesters had tried to remove mining equipment from the site but had failed.
"The situation at the mine is complicated, but we are trying to find a compromise and ease tensions," Akun said.
On Tuesday the protestors, who also say the mine poses a threat to nearby villages, blocked a road leading to Dzerui.
