As always, the five friends had arrived at the main marketplace of Guinea-Bissau's capital early that morning, setting up stalls to sell soap, body lotion and food.

They had expected a normal day, but heavy gunfire suddenly erupted near the presidential palace in the city centre, driving shockwaves of fear and panic.

Sylla, 38, said they heard the first shots at around 1:00 pm (1300 GMT).

"What followed was general panic in the market. Everyone was running in all directions. Some people were even injured," the merchant told AFP, his face hard, as his friends nodded in agreement.

A few hours later, the army announced that it had ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and seized power -- one day before provisional results of the November 23 presidential election were to be published.

Embalo, elected in 2020 and running for a second five-year term, has been detained.

The military junta on Thursday declared General Horta N'Tam, chief of staff of the army, the country's new leader for a period of one year.

- 'Used to these situations' -

Mohamed said he knew instantly that another coup was occurring when he heard the gunfire.

"We know how things work in this country. We're used to these situations," he told AFP.

Sandwiched between Guinea and Senegal, Guinea-Bissau has experienced four coups since independence from Portugal in 1974, as well as multiple attempted coups. Its election results are often contested.

Bissau was like a ghost town on Thursday, with most shops and businesses shuttered, public transport out of action and the streets semi-deserted.

"The country is paralysed. There isn't a single customer in the market," one shopkeeper said.

"We live day to day. We don't even have enough to eat," added another, both speaking on condition of anonymity for their safety.

Sitting listlessly across the road from the market, Mohamed and his companions all denounced the coup.

"Every time we feel hopeful about the country, a crisis occurs. This can't go on," soap seller Mamadou Woury Diallo said bitterly.

He said he had walked several kilometres to reach the market in hope of earning enough money to feed his family.

"How am I supposed to manage now? I don't have a cent, and I'll have to walk home."

- Disappointment -

Suncar Gassama lives in Portugal and visited Bissau for leisure. She never suspected she would witness the crisis unfolding.

"I was very happy to see Bissau-Guineans vote. But when I heard the gunfire, I became very sad to see my country, which I left 30 years ago, plunged back into this situation," the woman in her forties told AFP.

Gassama hopes Guinea-Bissau will move past violence and embrace democracy.

"Guinea-Bissau is a very rich country with all the conditions in place for a good life. I don't understand why Bissau-Guineans always have violence on their minds and are shooting everywhere," she said.

On Thursday, the junta ordered deserted markets and shopping centres to reopen.