Authorities in Madagascar imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the capital on Thursday, following protests over frequent power outages and water shortages that turned violent, according to a top security official.

Police fired teargas to disperse the thousands of mostly youth protesters who were marching and carrying placards in Antananarivo, the capital, according to a Reuters witness.

The demonstrators were denouncing the government and demanding the restoration of reliable water and electricity across the country.

"There are unfortunately individuals taking advantage of the situation to destroy other people's property," General Angelo Ravelonarivo, who heads a joint security body that includes the police and the military, said in a statement he read on privately owned Real TV late on Thursday.

To protect "the population and their belongings," the security forces decided to impose a curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. "until public order is restored," the statement said.

Madagascar, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, is mired in poverty, and some people blame the government of President Andry Rajoelina, who was re-elected in 2023, for failing to improve conditions.

During the protests earlier on Thursday, a large shopping mall in the capital was looted and then burned, and the homes of two lawmakers were looted and vandalised, according to the Reuters witness.

The protesters, who defied an earlier police ban on the demonstration, marched while chanting, "We need water, we need electricity."

After the protests were dispersed, they later spread into various neighbourhoods of the capital.

A security forces spokesperson, Zafisambatra Ravoavy, could not be reached for comment.

On Wednesday, the national police chief, Jean Herbert Andriantahiana Rakotomalala, warned that security forces would "take firm preventive...measures against those tempted to break the law."