Police inspect the identification card of motorists entering Zabuthiri township court in Naypyidaw on March 15, 2021.

About 50 people were reported killed when troops and police opened fire on protesters in various areas on Sunday. "We need justice", they chanted.

"One girl got shot in the head and a boy got shot in the face", an 18-year-old protester in Myingyan told Reuters.

At least 38 protesters were killed on Sunday after two Chinese-financed factories were set on fire and a host of other Chinese properties attacked.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday he "is appalled by the escalating violence in Myanmar at the hands of the country's military", according to his spokesman.

Sunday's arson attacks against 32 Chinese-invested factories in the Hlaingthaya area of Yangon prompted China's strongest comments yet on the turmoil in its neighbour, where many people see Beijing as supportive of the coup.

A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry on Monday said the Chinese embassy in Myanmar had contacted local authorities and urged to deploy police to protect the Chinese companies and personnel, reports UNB citing AP. Chun said Myanmar's pro-democracy protesters have welcomed Seoul's actions, and the news has "encouraged" the citizenry.

A number of people were shot dead during protests in Myanmar's largest city on Sunday, as security forces continued their violent crackdown against dissent following last month's military coup.

Most of those killed - 34 - were in Yangon, where two townships, Hlaing Thar Yar and neighboring Shwepyitha were being placed under martial law.

In Yangon, video posted on social media showed crowds of people, some wearing hard hats and gas masks, running down a street amid sounds of gunfire. Several people were injured.

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Scotland Yard said he was twice taken to hospital for treatment after sustaining head injuries while being held alone in his cell. She called her boyfriend for around 14 minutes and the court heard there has been no further activity on her mobile phone.

In total, more than 120 protesters have reportedly been killed during the crackdown, according to the AAPP monitoring group.

Myanmar has been under a nationwide state of emergency since the takeover six weeks ago, with its civilian leaders ousted and detained and military leaders in charge of all government.

State-run TV channels MRTV and Myawaddy announced that martial law had been declared in the townships of Aungmyay Thazan, Chan Aye Thazan, Maha Aung Myay, Pyi Gyi Tagon, and Chan Mya Thazi in Mandalay, the country's second-largest city.

Candlelight vigils were held across the country on Monday night to mourn the dead, with protesters flashing the three-finger salute as a sign of solidarity with the anti-coup movement.

Protest leader Thinzar Shunlei Yi said Myanmar people did not hate their Chinese neighbours though their rulers in Beijing had to understand the outrage felt over China's perceived support for the junta.

She said the Myanmar military was defying global calls for restraint, adding she had heard "heartbreaking accounts of killings, mistreatment of demonstrators and torture of prisoners" from contacts inside the Southeast Asian country.

The incidents came amidst the domestic turmoil after Myanmar's military deposed the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) on February 1 and declared a year-long state of emergency.

There were also reports that people were injured from both live rounds and rubber bullets, and that roadblocks were set alight by security forces.

The blockage of internet service forced postponement of a court hearing in the capital, Natpyitaw, for Myanmar's detained leader Suu Kyi, who was supposed to take part via a video conference, said her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw. "One of them was hit in the pubic bone, another was shot to death terribly", he said. He said he suggested to South Koreans that they place the Korean national flag along factory walls to prevent attacks.