MAPUTO — Police opened fire on at a crowd protesting at transport price hikes in Mozambique’s capital yesterday, killing one person.

Thousands of people joined the protests in Maputo, burning tyres and throwing stones at police cars. Police fired rubber bullets as they tried to clear roads, residents said.

“We are aware that one person was killed,” police spokesman Arnaldo Chefo said yesterday. “We will investigate in what circumstances police resorted to live ammunition instead of rubber bullets or tear gas.”

Fares have been driven higher by rising fuel prices. This year the price of petrol in Mozambique has increased 46% and diesel almost 90%. Paraffin prices climbed 61%.

OTM, the largest Mozambican trade union federation, said workers were spending 35% of their wages on transport. A recent United Nations development report said that nearly 40% of Mozambique’s people were living on less than $1 a day.

The union federation has called for an extraordinary meeting of officials from labour unions, the government and other associations to discuss rising fuel prices.

Mozambicans often use overcrowded and battered buses because state-owned transport companies have a shortage of vehicles.