Louise Williams, Jakarta – Rioting spread to new areas of Jakarta last night after Indonesian special forces troops, dropped by helicopter, sealed a major toll road to the airport, which had earlier been cut off by students protesting at the death of six of their colleagues.

A witness said at least one person was dead after police earlier in the day fired warning shots and tear gas when angry crowds set fire to trucks and a petrol station at a Jakarta intersection.

It was not yet clear whether rubber bullets or live rounds were being used, and the man's death was unconfirmed.

President Soeharto decided last night to cut short an official visit to Egypt to fly back to the riot-torn capital.

Egyptian officials said he would meet President Hosni Mubarak today before flying back to Jakarta, arriving on Friday.

According to another unconfirmed report, three demonstrators were crushed to death by a military truck they were attempting to turn over.

The protests moved to other parts of the city as students were allowed to leave the Trisakti University.

Students from Atmijaya Catholic University, in Jakarta's centre, also took to the streets.

Forty cars were reported to have been set on fire and the main road through the central banking district was blocked.

The killings have brought the United States, until now a strong supporter of the Soeharto Government, closer to backing calls for political reform.

The US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, deplored the killings and called on students and security forces to take steps to "break the cycle of violence which appears to be emerging".

Australia has not yet moved to call for political reform, with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Downer, urging restraint by both security forces and protesters.

In Jakarta, the Australian Ambassador, Mr John McCarthy, said: "From the information available it appears that the troops who fired on the students were not acting in self-defence."

The crisis helped send the Australian dollar plunging to its lowest level in 12 years yesterday, as international investors deserted the region. Last night it was trading around US62.93c, more than half a cent lower than Tuesday's close.

Analysts said the Indonesian crisis, and a 21-month low in Australia's home loan approvals, overwhelmed much of the positive sentiment from Tuesday's Federal Budget.

In Jakarta, students and relatives mourned the dead students. Four bodies were laid out at the Sumber Waras Hospital morgue under white sheets, each identified with a name tag.

Doctors at the university clinic were operating on four students, including a 14-year-old boy, who had been shot with both live and rubber bullets.

Doctors said one of the victims had been shot with live bullets and eight had been injured with rubber bullets.

Even as hundreds of troopreinforcements arrived, crowds of grieving students attempted to march along the blockaded tollway carrying flowers and wreaths towards the Trisakti University where the six students died yesterday.

A Western diplomat said: "The events of yesterday and the danger of the situation, as well as the apparent stand-off today, are a further worrying development.

"A rapid and credible inquiry into how live ammunition was used [against the unarmed students] must be held."

During the day shares related to the family of President Soeharto slid sharply on the sharemarket following the fresh violence.

The rupiah tumbled as much as 13 per cent to 10,650 to the American dollar.

At Trisakti University, opposition figurehead Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri and influential Muslim leader Mr Amien Rais addressed a cheering crowd.

"The President must change his attitude or the people will force him to change," yelled Mr Rais, who heads the 28 million-strong Muhaddiyah organisation.

Ms Megawati said: "I cannot justify any form of violence", and urged security forces not to treat the people as their enemies.

Five kilometres from the university, rioters in a mixed residential and commercial district pulled Timor cars, produced by a company owned by Mr Soeharto's youngest son, from a showroom, overturned them and tried to set them on fire.