Sixty people were injured and one person died in clashes between Honduran troops and demonstrators backing President Manuel Zelaya, local television channel Canal 51 reported on Monday.

One person died of bullet wounds in a taxi, the broadcaster reported, only to be shut down seconds later.

A few minute earlier, Juan Barahona, who leads the United Workers Federation, told Xinhua by telephone that soldiers had fired into the crowd demonstrating outside the Palace of Government.

"When we were dispersed I saw several people with bullet wounds during to the soldiers' shooting," Barahona said. "Two ambulances arrived but so far I don't know if there are deaths."

Local media had reported shooting and tear gas used at the scene, as two helicopters flew over the area.

Shots were heard in the early hours of Monday morning outside the Palace of Government. The president of the Committee for the Defense of Honduran Human Rights said that 27 people had been arrested in that incident.

Zelaya was seized by hooded and heavily armed soldiers from his residence in the early hours of Sunday morning and forced to board a plane to Costa Rica. A new leader, Roberto Micheletti, was appointed by the nation's legislature on Sunday afternoon, in a session that began with the reading of a resignation letter, reportedly from Zelaya, which the president has denounced as fake. Micheletti declared martial law within hours of being sworn in.

Source: Xinhua