Covering election counts in India can be rather scary. A group of Indian journalists, numbering maybe 100, were forced to lock themselves into a school after being attacked by 4,000-strong crowd.
TV equipment, cameras and vehicles were damaged in the melee at the school, which was being used as an election centre, in the city of Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
The journalists sheltered in the school for several hours to protect themselves. They first witnessed violent clashes between supporters of the losing Samjavadi party candidate and the winning Bahujan Samaj party candidate.
Then the crowd turned on the journalists. Vinod Gautam, who was working for national news channel NDTV, said: "The police were completely outnumbered by the crowds. They did nothing to help us."
The Delhi Union of Journalists criticised the administration's slow reaction, saying: "It is deplorable that... no action was taken to free the journalists."
Bob Dietz, the Asia programme coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said: "Political leaders bear responsibility for the lawless actions of their supporters, and police for their inability to enforce order."
Source: CPJ
