You're reading: Yanukovych orders prosecutor general to probe death of protester in Donetsk

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has expressed his condolences to relatives of a protester, Hennadiy Konopliov, who died of a heart attack during a protest in Donetsk on Sunday.

Yanukovych instructed the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate the circumstances of the tragedy, the president’s press service reported on Monday.

As reported, a tent camp outside the regional department of the Pension Fund in Donetsk set up by Chornobyl cleanup veterans on November 14 to hold protests against cutting down social payments was dismantled on Sunday.

After the protesters learned that an elderly veteran died of a heart attack after the demolition of the tent, they tried to storm the building of the Pension Fund department, which ended up in a scuffle between protesters and policemen.

Meanwhile, the Emergencies Ministry’s press service noted that at 12.30 on Saturday Konopliov turned to the medical personnel who were on duty outside the Pension Fund with a complaint about chest pains, which was registered in a medical book.

"The man was diagnosed with coronary heart disease with the symptoms of angina, and offered to be taken to a hospital. The elderly man turned down hospitalization," the press service said.

The Emergencies Ministry also confirmed police reports that their staff arrived at the square in front of the building of the Pension Fund to dismantle the tent in compliance with the rulings of the state enforcement service.

However, the protesters said that the tent was pulled down by some 30 people, who stormed into the tent camp without showing any IDs and poured water over the tents. They took away the tent, two camping stoves and a generator.