Russian newspaper cites Kyrgyzstan’s interim leader as saying unrest death toll could be 2,000

Interim pres: Kyrgyz violence likely kills 2,000

MOSCOW — A respected Russian daily quotes Kyrgyzstan’s interim president as saying the death toll from the ethnic unrest that has rocked the country’s south could be near 2,000.

Kyrgyz Health Ministry figures place the number of killed in the rampages led mainly by ethnic Kyrgyz at 191.

Roza Otunbayeva is quoted as saying in Friday’s Kommersant that “I would multiply the official data by 10.”

Observers had suggested that official figures are far too low, because they haven’t taken into account those buried on the day of death in keeping with local traditions.