Five people were killed and 220 were wounded in the rioting, and authorities detained more than 500 people, according to the Mongolian news agency, Montsame.
Police were blocking major arteries into the capital Wednesday after the president suspended most television broadcasts and imposed an overnight curfew, said William Infante, Mongolia director for The Asia Foundation, a nonprofit organization that seeks to bolster democratic institutions.
The demonstrators were upset about the prospect of a victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections by the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Infante said. More than 8,000 people attended the demonstration but only 200 to 300 rioted, Montsame reported.
Fire destroyed a building housing the party headquarters, and one person inside died of smoke inhalation, the news agency said, while a Japanese reporter was seriously wounded.
Parliament was to meet in emergency session Wednesday to discuss the crisis, Montsame reported.
About 1,500 security forces, including 200 soldiers, were dispatched to maintain order, the news agency said, noting that 90 percent of those detained were younger than 35.
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