Reuters cameraman killed in Bangkok

Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto was shot dead on Saturday during a violent clash between Thai troops and anti-government protesters in Bangkok that killed 12 people.
Muramoto, a 43-year-old Japanese national who had worked for Reuters in Tokyo for more than 15 years, was married with two children."I am dreadfully saddened to have lost our colleague Hiro Muramoto in the Bangkok clashes," said Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger.
"Journalism can be a terribly dangerous profession as those who try to tell the world the story thrust themselves in the center of the action. The entire Reuters family will mourn this tragedy."
Muramoto had been covering fighting between troops and protesters in the Rajdumnoen Road area where soldiers opened fire with rubber bullets and tear gas, as well as live rounds into the air.

• Reporters Without Borders has called for an independent investigation into Muramoto’s death, with both an autopsy and a ballistic study conducted in a transparent manner and, if necessary, with the assistance of foreign experts. “This investigation must be carried out at the highest level of the military command with the aim of establishing whether the troops used live rounds, because rubber bullets and tear gas grenades are normally used for riot control,” Reporters Without Borders said.
• Members of the Red Shirts yesterday said they had recovered army combat weapons. Reporters Without Borders urges the investigators to look into this claim and into the possibility that the fatal shots came from the protesters.