US ambassador calls for end to Myanmar violence

The US ambassador to Myanmar condemned the "bloodshed" and "horrifying" violence from security forces in the country on Saturday after 93 people were reportedly killed in the nation's deadliest day since last month’s military coup.

In a statement posted on the site of the embassy, Thomas Vajda said security forces were "murdering unarmed civilians, including children" and called for an "immediate end to the violence and the restoration of the democratically elected government."

A count issued by an independent researcher in Yangon who has been compiling near-real time death tolls put the total as darkness fell at 93, spread over more than two dozen cities and towns.

The online news site Myanmar Now reported the death toll had reached 91.

Both numbers are higher than all estimates for the previous high on March 14, which ranged from 74 to 90.

The death toll in Myanmar has been steadily rising as authorities grow more forceful with their suppression of opposition to the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The coup reversed years of progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule.

Death figures collected by the researcher on Saturday, who asked not to be named for his security, have generally tallied with the counts issued at the end of each day by the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, which documents deaths and arrests and is widely seen as a definitive source.

The Associated Press is unable to independently confirm the death tolls.