ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
Crowds of people streamed onto the streets of Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, cheering and singing, after an army general said on Wednesday (May 13) he had sacked Pierre Nkurunziza as president for seeking a third term in office. Nkurunziza's opponents say his bid is unconstitutional.
Sporadic gunfire could be heard in the city centre although it was not immediately clear how much support the apparent coup had.
The presidential office quickly refuted the declaration.
Street protests first erupted in the impoverished central African state more than two weeks ago.
The demonstrators say Nkurunziza's bid for another five years in office violates a two-term limit in the constitution and the Arusha peace deal, which ended an ethnically fuelled civil war in 2005 that killed 300,000 people.