Police in Madagascar killed at least 14 people on Monday and wounded 28 others as they opened fire on a crowd of protesters angered at the kidnapping of an albino child, local officials said.

"The gendarmes... fired on the crowd," local lawmaker Jean-Brunelle Razafintsiandraofa in the southeastern town of Ikongo told AFP.

Local doctor Tango Oscar Toky said, "nine people died on the spot," and another five died later in hospital.