Uzbek refugees flee after slaughter

KYRGYZ mobs burned Uzbek villages, slaughtered their residents and looted police stations yesterday in the worst ethnic rioting this Central Asian nation has seen in 20 years, sending more than 75,000 Uzbek refugees fleeing across the border into Uzbekistan.

Most of the Uzbek refugees were elderly people, women and children, and many had gunshot wounds, the Uzbek emergencies ministry said in a statement carried by Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency.

It said refugee camps were being set up for them in several areas of Uzbekistan.