Antananarivo- A mass anti-government rally in Madagascar on Monday ended with two people reportedly dead and the state television building in flames.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Antananarivo to protest the rule of President Marc Ravalomanana, whom they accuse of being anti-democratic.

The demonstration in the city's May 13th square was called by Antananarivo's mayor and Ravalomanana's rival, Andry Rajoelina, on the first day of an open-ended general strike.

The strike call appeared to have gone unheeded by many in a country where most are too poor to go without pay.

Rajoelina told reporters police had shot dead one protestor at the state radio and television buildings, which the demonstrators set alight. Another protestor died in the square of a suspected heart attack.

Two other broadcasters seen as loyal to the president - one of which he owns - were also off air Monday afternoon. It was not clear why.

Monday's demonstration was the latest in a series of opposition protests that began after the government shut down a television station owned by the mayor in December.

On Saturday, a similar march drew tens of thousands of people.

Ravalomanana had been due to attend a summit of southern African leaders in South Africa Monday but he cut short his visit on Sunday and returned home.

Rajoelina accuses the president, who was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2006 and has vast business interests, of being out of touch with ordinary Malagasy people and of trampling their rights.

Ravalomanana owns the country's biggest food company, a radio station, a television station, two newspapers and a construction company.

Rajoelina was elected mayor in December 2007 in a landslide victory over the ruling Tiako i Madagasikara (I love Madagascar) party candidate.

The government shut down the mayor's popular Viva television station after it broadcast an interview with ex-president Didier Ratsiraka.

Rajoelina responded in January by inaugurating a Democracy Square in Antananarivo in the presence of 20,000 supporters. (dpa)