The anger has spread to the country's largest city, Almaty, where protesters seized administrative buildings and the airport while looting has increased. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who declared a state of emergency on Wednesday evening, has so far failed to calm protests, despite a concession on the price of gas and the resignation of the government. According to the Kazakh Interior Ministry quoted by local media, at least eight members of the security forces were killed and 317 injured. Local media and witnesses on social media reported that the protesters then proceeded to the presidential residence in the city, which they set on fire, along with the city administration building and a television station.
The anger of the demonstrators is particularly directed at the former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, 81, who ruled the country from 1989 to 2019 and who retains great influence.
He is considered to be the mentor of the current president, Mr. Tokayev.
This ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin had also remained president of the powerful Security Council, but Tokayev announced on Wednesday that he would now exercise this function himself.
Several dozen people were killed by the police, who themselves suffered losses.
Long regarded as one of the most stable ex-Soviet republics in Central Asia, energy-rich Kazakhstan is facing its biggest crisis in decades.
Back in pictures over several days of demonstrations that plunge Kazakhstan into a violent crisis.