The U.N. Security Council will call an emergency meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss Myanmar amid growing concerns about the situation there.

During the closed consultations, Ibrahim Gambari, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's special envoy on Myanmar, is also expected to brief the 15 member council, a spokesman announced.

On Wednesday, the United States and the European Union  issued a joint statement calling for further steps, including sanctions, against Myanmar.

In addition to calling on the Myanmar authorities to "stop violence and to open a process of dialogue with pro-democracy leaders," the statement called on the Security Council to "discuss this situation urgently and consider further steps including sanctions." China, India, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and regional players were also called upon to "use their influence in support" of the people of Myanmar.

The decision on the emergency Security Council comes on the heels of world leaders who have increasingly spoken out on the issue. U.S. President George W. Bush , announced in his speech Tuesday at the General Assembly' annual debates that he would impose fresh economic sanctions against the country and expand a visa ban.

Bush made the announcement after as many as 80,000 Buddhist monks and ordinary citizens continued an eighth consecutive day of protest Tuesday in Myanmar's largest city of Yangon.

On Wednesday, a U.N. spokesman said the world body will dispatch Gambari to the region shortly. It is still uncertain, however, whether Myanmar will accept his visit.

Myanmar's state television reported Wednesday that a civilian was killed and three others injured in protests against the military government in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, during crackdowns on protesters.

Earlier in the day, the Associated Press reported in a dispatch from Bangkok that reports from exiled Myanmar journalists and activists in Thailand said as many as five people were shot dead by security forces trying to suppress protests Wednesday in Yangon.

The protests were the latest in a series of demonstrations that started when about 500 activists and opposition members led by well-known student leaders marched peacefully on Aug. 19 against soaring fuel prices.

Last month, the junta abruptly increased the price of natural gas by up to five times, doubled the price of diesel fuel and raised the price of gasoline by 67 percent.

The junta initially cracked down on the protests by arresting hundreds of activists and opposition members across the country.

But the protests continued and were later joined by monks when about 200 of them marched in the western coastal town of Sittwe, chanting Buddhist prayers.

The participation of monks escalated after the junta violently cracked down on a protest by around 500 monks in the central town of Pakokku, firing warning shots and severely beating the monks.

Western governments have called on the junta to exercise restraint in the face of the protests.